Abid Akbar wins intercollegiate doubles title in US; ignored by Pakistan Tennis Federation
Abid Akbar is a 20 year old tennis prodigy from Pakistan who proceeded to Idaho University on a Tennis scholarship. In 2009, the University Director for Tennis announced the signing of Abid Akbar for 2009 season. On 18th August 2010, he was one
of the six tennis players from his university who won the Scholar Athlete Individual award from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Before joining the University of Idaho, he played in the national tennis circuit of Pakistan with his career boasting 27 tennis titles in both the junior’s and men’s national events. Before leaving for University of Idaho, he was ranked no. 4 in Pakistan.
Abid aims to follow in the footsteps of Aisam ul Haq. Aisam ul Haq earlier this year created history as he reached the US Open mixed doubles final and men’s doubles final respectively.
Abid is not new to the world of tennis. His family has been actively involved with tennis in Pakistan. His father Ali Akbar represented the Davis cup team for Pakistan as captain while his brother actively played tennis for Charleston Southern.
The Idaho University men’s tennis team wrapped the fall season with a win from Abid Akbar and Jake Knox clinching the Gold flight doubles title earlier this month. Abid has been a true revelation on the court and also reached the semi finals of the men’s
singles. Despite the fact that the two tennis players were playing together for the first time, they were unassailable as they cruised their way to three consecutive victories to ensure that they bagged the title.
“I was really impressed how they came together as a team after not playing together before last week,” Idaho coach Jeff Beaman said. “I thought it was a very strong end for the fall, with most players picking up wins against quality competition.”
It is indeed a pity that such a talented player has been ignored for a long time by the Pakistan Tennis Federation. Like Samir Iftikhar, who is making waves in the world of tennis, Abid Akbar also holds great potential provided that he gets assistance from
the tennis federation. Otherwise like many other tennis players of the country, he could easily fade into oblivion.
It is a matter of great pride for Pakistan that a local player is doing exceptionally well in tennis circles in the US. However, like Aisam one can hope that he does not have to face similar hurdles in his career. Pakistan is a country with little tennis
infrastructure and the tennis federation itself has not taken concrete steps to promote the game in the country. Despite a lack of facilities, these players have done tremendously well on the international circuit and they must be given encouragement from
back home.
“The Pakistan Tennis Federation needs to be more devoted towards the sport and the players, and there is a need for more tournaments on the national level that have been on the decline in the past few years,” Abid said. “There is a need to create a strong
infrastructure to promote the sport in the country”.
Abid is one of the many tennis players from Pakistan who need to be supported and endorsed by the country’s tennis federation. There is a need to provide these players with proper coaches and facilities so that they can improve their rankings and compete
with the best in the world. Abid like Samir is still young and has a long way to go but his career has surely taken a promising start and his country would definitely be expecting a lot from this young tennis prodigy.
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