Sports Bulletin Report
Lisbon (Portugal): Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi retained Mix Doubles title of the ITF Masters World Championships, partnering Nina Hermann of Austria to upset the top seeds Fred Gil and Rita Freitas of Portugal 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
The victory represents another proud moment for Aisam and Pakistan tennis, with the former ATP doubles star successfully defending the Mixed Doubles World Championship crown he won last year. Aisam and Hermann produced an assured performance in the gold-medal match, overcoming the top-seeded Portuguese pairing in straight sets to claim the title.
There was further success for Pakistan in the Men’s 45+ Doubles, where Aisam and Aqeel Khan finished as World Championship silver medalists after a closely fought final.
The Pakistani pair came up just short against the French combination of Jacques Glay and Jean-Baptist Renault, going down 1-6, 7-6, [10-7].
Aisam and Aqeel began the final in commanding fashion, comfortably taking the opening set 6-1. The second set, however, was filled with momentum shifts as the French pair raised their level and stayed neck-and-neck with the Pakistanis. Once the match entered the tiebreaks, the French duo edged ahead and carried that momentum into the deciding match tiebreak, producing a strong finish to deny Aisam and Aqeel the gold.
The silver nevertheless completed an outstanding men’s doubles campaign for the Pakistani pair, who had earlier produced a series of impressive victories, including a dramatic quarterfinal comeback against Spain’s Francisco Javier Martínez Baena and Pedro Nieto Orellana, saving two match points before winning 6-7, 7-6, [10-2].
Aqeel Khan added another medal to Pakistan’s tally in the 40+ Mixed Doubles, partnering Eileen Aranas-Roth of Germany to claim bronze. Their run ended in the semifinals against eventual champions Gil and Freitas, giving Aqeel his second medal of the Individual World Championships.
The results brought to an end an exceptional two weeks of tennis in Lisbon, spanning the ITF Masters World Team and Individual Championships. Pakistan’s players leave Portugal having been involved in four medal-winning performances:
* Silver – Men’s 45+ World Team Championships: Pakistan
* Silver – Men’s 45+ Doubles: Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi & Aqeel Khan
* Gold – 40+ Mixed Doubles: Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi & Nina Hermann
* Bronze – 40+ Mixed Doubles: Aqeel Khan & Eileen Aranas-Roth.
