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| April 21, 2006 | Friday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 22, 1427 |
Strong doubles pair imperative: Hai
KARACHI, April 20: A senior official of Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) has said it was imperative to raise a strong doubles pair should the country want to retain its position in Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Group-1 in future.
‘We lack a doubles team and it was need of the hour that the pair of Asim Shafik-Jalil Khan be strengthened to that level besides providing relief to Aisamul Haq and Aqeel Khan,’ Saeed Hai said on Thursday.
Hai, a senior vice-president of PTF, said doubles was important in the Davis Cup ties and the nations pay special attention of winning it.
He called for raising another one or two doubles pair of high standard in addition to Asim and Jalil who can later on play singles also.
Pakistan went down to India 2-3 in the first play-off at Mumbai after taking 1-0 lead and tied at 2-2.
Asim who teamed up with Jalil, tasted 2-6, 3-6, 1-6 defeat in doubles at the hands of Leander Paes-Mahesh Bupathi that deprived Pakistan the much needed victory to retain place in Group 1.
Applauding the performance of Aisam and Aqeel he said they have performed remarkably well in keeping the country’s image high in the recent past.
However, at the same time he questioned as to how long the nation would depend on these two players.
Aisam, he said, was rushed to hospital after he won his reverse singles against Prakash Amritraj following cramps in his body.
He is expected to be extra fit as Grand Slam events are of five-setters, he added.
Pakistan now play China in China in the second play-off tie in September and only a victory can avoid their relegation to Group 11.Pakistan lost 2-3 to Taipei in the away tie earlier this year.
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