Hamid rues lack of talent in the country

Hamidul Haq resigns from his job as a national selector arguing that his job makes no sense in absence of new talent.

KARACHI:

Former Pakistan tennis player Hamidul Haq resigned from his job as a national selector arguing that his job made no sense in the absence of new talent in the country.

Lack of proper facilities and grooming opportunities, according to Haq, drive the youngsters away from the sport with only the self-financed individuals sticking to tennis thus creating a huge vacuum of talent pool. One of the reasons behind his resignation was the constant overlooking of local players and the Pakistan Tennis Federation’s (PTF) jumbled up priorities when dealing with the players.

“I really don’t understand the point behind sending a team to the Fed Cup after 10 years but ignoring the under-16 squad that has been playing the tournament for the past 20 years,” Haq told The Express Tribune. “I’m worried that the federation is blindly investing in sending players abroad instead of holding proper training camps and improving the courts in the country.

“Right now our players become a joke when they go abroad to play a tournament.”

He added that the federation should learn to develop the players’ skills before sending them abroad and suggested to the federation that they should concentrate on the juniors since the seniors like Aisamul Haq Qureshi, Aqeel Khan, Jalil Khan and Yasir Khan are past the stage of improving their game.

“The PTF should certainly hold a lot of domestic camps and by December they should send the juniors to Thailand or India just to test their skills and to give them experience. Only after that should the PTF register the players in the tournaments that are held in Spain and US in 2012 in order to get good results on the international level.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2011.