Lack of funds ruins Samir’s opportunity

Upcoming tennis player Samir Iftikhar loses chance to represent Pakistan in the ITF Junior Grand Slam.

LAHORE: Upcoming tennis player Samir Iftikhar lost the chance to represent Pakistan in the ITF Junior Grand Slam, the Osaka Mayors Cup, that finished on October 25, due to non-availability of funds with the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF).

Ifthikhar was the second junior Pakistan player after his cousin Aisamul Haq Qureshi to have been accepted in the qualifying draw of the Australian Junior Open Grand Slam event in January this year and improved his ranking from 1,300th to the current 250th place.

“Every player dreams to play the Grand Slam event and I did my best to improve my ranking in just eight months which enabled me to get through to this event,” said Iftikhar, who won four back-to-back singles and doubles ITF junior world ranking titles at Syria, Amman, Bahrain and Dubai.

He said he approached the PTF for the provision of funds but was turned down. However, he remains hopeful of his participation in another Junior Grand Slam event in the US that will be held in December.

“I hope the government can do something for me so I’m able to participate in the Orange Bowl tournament in December.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2010.