ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Amir Mazari, Ahtesham Humayun and Mikael Ali Baig confirmed their spots in the semi-finals of the ITF Pakistan World Junior Tennis Championship J-30 (Leg-2) here at the PTF-SDA Tennis Complex on Wednesday.

Amir came from a set down to beat Timur Gordeev of Russia 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 while Ahtesham cruised past Marsel Alexeyev of Kazakhstan 6-0, 6-3. Mikeal, meanwhile, defeated compatiot Mohammad Hassan Usmani 6-3, 6-2.

An all-Pakistan semi-final lineup was denied when Abubakar Talha had to retire against Kristijonas Milasausjs of Lithaunia 5-7, 2-0 while being up a set.

Pakistan’s only hope in the girls section was ended when Amna Ali Qayum was routed by Kazakhstan’s Karolina Ligai 6-0, 6-0. Turkiye’s Ercin Lal Yavuz stayed on track to add a second title to her tally in as many weeks as she won against Zihan Feng 6-1, 2-0 after the Chinese retired.

Turkiye’s Deniz Cakil defeated leg-1 finalist Yewon Lee of South Korea 6-2, 7-5 while Deniz’s country-mate Serife Pelin Sari came from a set down against Russia Daria Bogacheva 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to complete the last-four lineup.

Meanwhile, four Pakistani teams moved into the semi-finals of the boys doubles.

Results (quarter-finals):

Boys doubles: Mikaeel Ali Baig(Pakistan)/Timur Gordeev (Russia) bt Mohammad Yahya (Pakistan) Theerapat (Thailand) 6-1, 6-2; M. Haziq Asim/M. Hassan Usmani(Pakistan) w/o Ippei Matsushima (Japan)/Kristijonas Milasausjs (Lithaunia); Ahtesham Humayun/Hamza Roman (Pakistan) bt Nabeel Ali Qayum (Pakistan)/Jun Woo Yee (South Korea) 5-7, 6-3, 10-0; Abubakar Talha/Zohaib Afzal Malik (Pakistan) bt Shehryar Anees/Asad Zaman (Pakistan) 6-2, 6-2

Girls doubles: Zihan Feng (China)/Serife Pelin Sari (Turkiye) bt Rania Bus (US)/Naimah Grant (Britain) 6-0, 6-0; Polina/Karolina Ligai (Kazakhstan) bt Yewon Lee (South Korea)/Mingxi Qu (China) 6-3, 6-2; Deniz Cakil/Ecrin Lal (Turkiye) bt Eyu Yoshida (Japan) Parawera (Thailand) 6-3, 7-5.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2025