LAHORE: Pakistan’s young tennis player Iman Qureshi outplayed her Indian opponent in a marathon quarter-final match of the Qatar Asian Junior Tennis Championship in Doha and has also reached the doubles final. Iman, one of the few Pakistani girls on international tennis circuit, surprised everyone when she beat her much superior opponent from India Rakeetha Pariera in a three hour long match.
Iman stunned the tournament’s top seed and Asian Junior champion Rakeetha Pariera in the opening set of the game 6-4 but went down due to lapse in concentration losing the second set 4-6. Iman gathered her wits to overcome Rakeetha with a display of more powerful game 6-1 and won the match 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Iman, who hails from Lahore, will now play Kaur, the top Malaysian ranked girl, in the semi-final and has also made it to the doubles final which will be played on Thursday. The tournament is being organised from December 13 to 17 as part of the Asian Tennis Federation’s Asian 14 and Under Series.
Top girls from nine different countries are playing in this tournament in Doha. Iman is currently ranked 16th in Asia and after this tournament is expected to reach the top 10 in Asia and would be the only Pakistani in the ranking.
