ISLAMABAD
\nThe ITF Pakistan 3rd Zainab Ali Naqvi Memorial World Juniors Tennis Championship (Leg-1) 2026 got underway at the PTF Tennis Complex here on Tuesday, attracting promising young talent from across the globe.
\nOrganized by the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF), the tournament features participation of 39 players \u2014 24 boys and 15 girls \u2014 representing 14 countries including Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Japan, China, Australia, Russia, Poland, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand.
\nPakistan\u2019s Mikaeel Ali Baig and Hamza Roman have been seeded first and second, respectively, in the boys\u2019 category, reflecting the host nation\u2019s strong presence in the competition.
\nThe championship is being held in memory of Zainab Ali Naqvi, a talented young tennis player from Karachi who tragically passed away on February 12, 2024, after suffering a cardiac arrest during an ITF junior event in Islamabad.
\nOn the opening day, several matches were decided in straight sets. In the boys\u2019 category, Japan\u2019s Masamune Matsumoto defeated Pakistan\u2019s Inam Qadir 6-2, 6-0, while Hong Kong\u2019s Jamie Chen overcame Singapore\u2019s Ethan Chiang 6-3, 6-1. Jayden Park of Hong Kong beat Pakistan\u2019s M. Ahmad Afzal 6-1, 6-1.
\nArham Tariq of Pakistan advanced after Seo Lee of South Korea withdrew, while China\u2019s Ruoyu Hua outclassed Pakistan\u2019s Abdaar Ali 6-1, 6-0. Hong Kong\u2019s Ho Wan Yeung and Pakistan\u2019s M. Yahya progressed due to walkovers against Kongyi Hu and Daniel Alwadi, respectively. Pakistan\u2019s M. Ayyan Waqas also moved ahead after India\u2019s Moulik Agarwal withdrew.
\nIn the girls\u2019 matches, Russia\u2019s Varvara Rubtsova comfortably beat Bangladesh\u2019s Yeanna Chowdhury 6-0, 6-2. Japan\u2019s Eyu Yoshida defeated Pakistan\u2019s Soha Ali 6-3, 6-1, while Kazakhstan\u2019s Safiia Urazalina edged past Romaisa Malik of Pakistan 6-0, 7-5.
\nKazakhstan\u2019s Yelizaveta Slepchenko secured a 6-4, 6-1 win over Japan\u2019s Yuriko, and China\u2019s Yijia Wang outplayed Poland\u2019s Yuliia Artiuhina 6-1, 6-1. Japan\u2019s Rino Shinden also advanced to the next round after a walkover against Kazakhstan\u2019s Yeva Kim.
\nThe tournament aims to provide international exposure to young players and promote tennis at the grassroots level in Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The ITF Pakistan 3rd Zainab Ali Naqvi Memorial World Juniors Tennis Championship (Leg-1) 2026 got underway at the PTF Tennis Complex here on Tuesday, attracting promising young talent from across the globe. Organized by the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF), the tournament features participation of 39 players \u2014 24 boys and 15 girls \u2014 representing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-540369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n