Noble mentor Edhi influenced my mind and personality: Aisam

"When you look at him, you believe that there is good in the world", says Pakistan’s only player at ATP

KARACHI:  

Aisamul Haq Qureshi, Pakistan’s only player at ATP for over a decade, was unaware of the death of Abdul Sattar Edhi.

He was playing the Wimbledon mixed doubles semifinal, knocking at the opportunity to become the first Pakistani to win a grand slam. He lost the match, just a step away from repeating his feat of reaching a grand slam final like he did at the 2010 US, but he lost a lot more after the match as he found out that Abdul Sattar Edhi was no more.

“It is very sad, he was the most important personality for me, for Pakistan for the world,” Asiam, who also runs the charity foundation Stop War, Start Tennis, told The Express Tribune. “He has influenced my mind and personality.

“I found motivation to go on from him, through his work. When you look at him, you believe that there is good in the world, while there is violence and all the bad things happening, there are good people too who care for life and others beside themselves. He was very patriotic too and it’s very sad that he has passed away.”

Aisam recalled that Edhi called him up after the 2010 US Open final to congratulate him. He believes that he called because of the speech he gave at the concluding ceremony.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2016.