KARACHI:
Miscommunication within Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) is affecting preparation for the Davis Cup as the players and the coach remain clueless about the training camp.
Different officials have been issuing conflicting statements regarding the training sessions that were scheduled to take place in Islamabad on June 10. Later, the PTF decided to reschedule the camp for June 14 but that did not materialise either.
At stake is promotion to Group-1 which Pakistan – who play the Davis Cup Group II tie with South Korea on July 8 – can achieve by winning the tie.
Coach, players kept in the dark
Meanwhile, coach Jalil Riaz was due to reach Islamabad last night but the Karachi and Lahore players are still in their respective cities.
“I don’t know what’s going on at the moment, we’re still home,” a player told The Express Tribune. “I’m still not sure when we’ll fly out to Islamabad. I don’t even know which players will be there.”
On the other hand Riaz, who will focus on physical conditioning and introducing new techniques to the players, hopes to start the camp today.
Confusion in the Davis Cup line-up
Earlier, PTF Secretary Mumtaz Yousuf confirmed that the Jalil Khan, Yasir Khan, Heera Aashiq and Umer Sheikh, Mohmammad Adil and Abid Ali will attend the training camp which will start sans Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan. The remaining two players will be selected after competitive trials. He also said that Samir Iftikhar has opted out of the tournament due to his studies.
However, the PTF Vice-President Irshad Bhatti has contradicted the statement saying that Iftikhar will join the camp on June 17 and the team has been selected already, with Iftikhar and Yasir taken as the reserved players.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2011.
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