ISLAMABAD: Local youngsters struggled badly against quality foreign players as the McDonald’s Pakistan ITF Championship 2026 (ITF M-15 Leg-2) started with the Main Round at the PTF Complex courts Tuesday.
Both Yousaf Khalil and Abubakar Talha were no match against their rivals losing in straight sets. Turkey’s Tugra Duran outplayed Yousaf Khalil (PAK) 6-0, 6-4 with Sweden player Arvid Nordquist making an easy work of Abubakar Talha (PAK) 6-2, 6-2.
A total of 86 men’s players from 22 countries are participating in this prestigious international event. The participating nations include Pakistan, Kuwait, Russia, Uzbekistan, Sweden, Morocco, Malaysia, Great Britain, Italy, Lithuania, China, Turkey, Algeria, Canada, Ireland, Poland, Hong Kong, Greece, Lebanon, Germany, France, and Japan.
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, President PTF, and Col. Zia-ud-din Tufail, Secretary General PTF, extended their best wishes to all participants for Leg-2 of the event and expressed gratitude to the sponsors for making the tournament possible.
In the Boys Doubles event, Pakistan’s Mikaeel Ali Baig and Ahmad Nael Qureshi produced a strong performance to secure an impressive straight-sets victory over the pair of Samir Hamza Reguig (Algeria) and Josh Roe Flannelly (Ireland), winning 6–2, 6–3.
Results: Men’s singles 1st round: Tugra Duran(TUR) bt Yousaf Khalil (PAK) 6-0, 6-4; Arvid Nordquist (SWE) bt Abubakar Talha (PAK) 6-2, 6-2; Grigoriy Lomakin (KAZ) bt Andrei Kunitsyn (RUS) 7-6(7), 6-2; Mert Naci Turker (TUR) bt Darshan Suresh (MAS) 6-4, 6-1; Stevan Popovic (GER) bt Arkhip Kozlov (RUS) 6-2, 6-4;
Men’s doubles 1st round: Mikaeel Ali Baig /Ahmad Nael Qureshi (PAK) bt Samir Hamza Reguig (Alg)/ Josh Roe Flannelly (Ire), 6–2, 6–3; Dmitrii Shirokii / Egor Khotchenkov (RUS) bt Aqeel Khan / Barkatullah (PAK) 6-4, 6-3; Matas Vasiliauskas (LTU) / Edoardo Cherie Ligniere (ITA) bt Ivan Iutkin / Makar Krivoshchekov (RUS) 4-6, 7-5(13-11); Kerem Yilmaz (TUR) / Adam Farag-Cao (CAN) bt Abdulaziz Usmonjonov (UZB) / Arkhip Kozlov (RUS) 6-4, 6-4; Andrei Kunitsyn / Nikita Ianin (RUS) bt Abu Bakar Talha / Muhammad Shoaib (PAK)6-4, 7-5; Stevan Popovic (GER) / Carl Holder (GBR) bt Xiuyuan Guo (CHN) / Yousaf Khalil (PAK) 7-5, 6-3.
