PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI: Malaysia coach Syed Omer believes that events such as the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) U14 Super Series Tennis Champions tournament, will improve the standard of tennis both in Pakistan and in Asia.
Pakistan is hosting an international tennis tournament after 11 years, with players from Malaysia and Sri Lanka competing in the event.
Omer is confident the event will set a strong precedent for future international events in the country. “There is always potential in our region,” Omer told The Express Tribune. “There are good players out there; all they need is the exposure. I believe that this event will have good results. This is just the beginning, and hopefully in the future we’ll see more countries coming to Pakistan.”
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Meanwhile, 11-year-old Malaysian player Yi Shen, who made his international debut in this event but lost out to Sameer Ahmed 6-3, 6-2 in the first round, wants to come back to the country if another opportunity presents itself.
“I enjoyed it here; the food is good and it was a good tournament,” said Shen. “I will come back to Pakistan in the future as well.”
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Meanwhile in Monday’s matches, Sameer Areejo defeated Ghufran Faiz 6-2, 6-0, Sri Lanka’s Yanishkhe Coorey outclassed Syed Mohammad Ahmed 6-0, 6-1, Nalain Abbas crushed Zalan Khan 6-0, 6-0 whereas Sami Zeb, Rayyan Jawed and UK’s Muhammad Saeed also registered wins in the first round.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2016.
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