Sports

Davis Cup tie: Pakistan depart for Sri Lanka

Side takes on China on March 4 in first Group I tie in a decade

Natasha Raheel February 27, 2016

COURTESY: AISAM-UL-HAQ QURESHI

KARACHI: Pakistan’s top singles player Aqeel Khan believes they have a ‘40 to 60% chance’ of winning their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I tie against China on March 4 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

He will be leaving with Yasir Khan and Muhammad Abid on Saturday for Colombo, as the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) have arranged a week-long training at the clay courts of Colombo.

Davis cup: Sri Lanka finalised as venue for China tie

Aqeel and Aisamul Haq Qureshi will be the seasoned players in the side, with Yasir and Abid replacing Samir Iftikhar and Muhammad Abid Ali Akbar in the team for the tie.

This will be Pakistan’s first tie in Group I in almost a decade, but Aqeel believes that his team can pull off a surprise as the group’s underdogs.

“It’s going to be a tough tie, and we are going to play it like we did in the Group II final to qualify for this,” Aqeel told The Express Tribune.

PTF is holding the ‘home tie’ at a neutral venue in Sri Lanka as China had refused to play the tie in Pakistan due to security concerns.

Davis Cup: Pakistan on level terms with Chinese Taipei

Aqeel added that Pakistan will have a slight advantage due to the surface as Chinese players are not as strong on clay as they are on hard courts. “China are a better side on paper, but we’ll get enough practice in Colombo,” said Aqeel. “We have a chance as we’ve played on Sri Lankan clay courts before. The weather is going to favour us too. Mostly it will be our experience on these courts that would help us.”

Aqeel added that the change in the squad will not affect the tie a lot.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2016.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.

COMMENTS (2)

AUD | 8 years ago | Reply @Sri Varahadev: for your information, people from all over the world working in Pakistan oil&gas sector and these location includes KPK and Baluchistan as well..

Sri Varahadev | 8 years ago | Reply Given that “China had refused to play the tie in Pakistan due to security concerns”, the question Pakistan should be asking is that when their Iron Brother China is fearful of risking security of a few tennis players and accompanying officials despite saying their relationship with Pakistan is Purer than ever flowing water, Deeper than Indian Ocean, Higher than Himalaya’s and Sweeter than honey; how realistic is it to expect that China will risk the security of the many required to oversee the alleged USD 46 Billion loan/investment that is claimed will be made under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project?

Replying to X