ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s tennis sensation Aisamul Haq Qureshi has confirmed his availability for Davis Cup tie starting from February 1, in Colombo Sri Lanka, Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) secretary general Mumtaz Yousaf told Media during an exclusive chat here on Monday.
He said that Pakistan had immense and bright chances to win the Davis Cup tie against Sri Lanka as the visitors had a well-built team as compared to the Islanders. “Aisam and other team member Aqeel Khan are in superb form,” he added.Answering a question regarding the selection of the two players – Yasir Khan and Mohammad Abid Mushtaq – for the Davis Cup contest, he said that the federation had invited eight players for the trials which were held in Islamabad and a selection committee observed the proceedings to select boys for the national team. “Finally, two toppers got a place in the squad. Now a training camp will start from January 15 (today) at the same venue where trials were held.”
He said former Davis Cuppers Inamul Haq, Asim Shafik and Arif Qureshi were part of the selection committee and did their job brilliantly as not a single complaint came to the PTF’s notice against any member of the selection committee.Mumtaz said that the hosts opted for clay surface for the fixture and therefore the PTF decided to hold the training camp at the clay courts of Dilawar Abbas Tennis Complex Islamabad. “Complex has all the international standard facilities and will be a suitable park for the players to train.
The PTF official said the federation would send six boys and two girls for training in New Delhi, India under the programme of Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) in the last week of February 2013. “Initially, this training session was to be held in Thailand ATF Tennis Academy but the ATF president is from India and he wants to establish the camp in Delhi. So Pakistan will send six boys and two girls for this special tennis skills education,” he said.
Mumtaz said that the federation would arrange minimum 12 national ranking tournaments in 2013 and its all 14 affiliated unites would also make plans for holding at least one junior or senior national ranking tournament this year. “The PTF is trying its level best to provide maximum occasions to budding players to excel at national level, “he said.
He said the PTF gets total funds of Rs.2 million from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) in the shape of annual and special grants. “However, federation manages the financial needs to send the national teams on international trips through sponsorships. However, the economic position of the PTF is not that poor. The federation is also taking steps to uplift the standard of the game in the country. – DailyTimes
