LAHO RE Pakistans pride on junior tennis circuit and number two seed Samir Iftikhar moved to the semi-finals of the ITF Oman Open. He will now face the third seeded Arjun Pande in a battle of wits and patience at the ITF Junior World Ranking Oman International Open being held in Oman, Jordan. The match is predicted to be a nail-biting affair between the Pakistani youngster and 322nd Ranked Indian Arjun Pande. Samir will have to bring out every thing out of his armor to overcome the Indian who has defeated over each other. Samir, the first cousin of Aisamul Haq, defeated Abdul Alvahdi of Kuwait 6/3, 6/3 who had earlier upset 8th Seeded Indian Vishal Passia. He won in convincing style by breaking the Kuwaiti opponent in both sets with display of powerful ground strokes and passing shots which were followed with big serves and left Alvahdi hapless. It is pertinent to mention that Samir is in Jordan due to timely sponsorship of business house New Age Cables. His father and coach former Davis Cup player hailed his sons performance and criticised the government for extending step motherly treatment to tennis. Despite Aisams pleas, the government is doing nothing for the promotion of tennis in the country. Despite the announcement of increase in sports budget by the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, it is unfair that most of the funds are being given to hockey and cricket. He further said: I have made numerous pleas to the government, PIA and several other government organisations to provide sponsorship to Samir to compete in international junior events. His talent has been acknowledged by the ITF grand slam funds committee in London and Samir is the second junior from Pakistan since Aisam to receive the prestigious travel allowance which is only given to players whom the ITF believes have the ability to reach top 100 in the world in professional tennis. I hope that the president, the prime minister and the sports ministry will take steps and come forward to promote tennis which through Aisamul Haq and young Samir is making the countrys presence felt on the world map, he added.