Tennis: Aqeel crashes out of UAE quarters

Off to Bahrain for ranking points before Olympics cut-off date.

KARACHI: Aqeel Khan crashed out of the UAE Men’s Futures One tournament doubles event along with his Kuwaiti partner Abdullah Maqdas after losing 3-6, 7-6, 10-3 to the British-Irish duo of James Marsalek and Sam Barry  in Fujairah yesterday.

Aqeel had a rough start to the tournament, losing to fifth-seed Indian Ashwin Vijayragaven in the second round of the singles event.

“I’m not upset, in fact it’s just incredible to finally reach the quarter-finals of an international event,” Aqeel told The Express Tribune. “I wasn’t expecting much from this tournament because most of the players here play all over the world throughout the year. Losing to the second-seeds is not bad and I know I gave my all in this match. I feel extremely motivated for the next tournament in Bahrain.”

Aqeel now heads to Bahrain in a bid to earn at least 300 ITF ranking points which will make him eligible to represent Pakistan in the 2012 Olympics providing Aisamul Haq Qureshi regains his place in the top 10 ATP ranking before May.

“I’ve played a lot of local events but none of them compare to this. With every match, I feel that I have learnt something, even at the age of 32. I have enough tennis left in me to make something out of my career, but like Aisam, I know I can only play doubles tournament as I’m not suited to singles anymore.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2012.