“The U14 team has played extremely well, but I think their participation in the Davis Cup wore them out,” says coach Shafiq. PHOTO: FILE
The team was required to win at least two matches in Group A of the Asia-Oceania Zone to progress to the quarter-finals of the qualifiers from their pool that also featured Hong Kong and Vietnam.
This was the farthest any Pakistan team has progressed in a World Junior Tennis event.
Pakistan’s Muzammil Murtaza lost to Daisuke Sumizawa 6-2, 6-1, while Nofil Kaleem was defeated by Yunosuke Tanaka 6-0, 6-4. Murtaza and Abdaal Haider also lost the doubles rubber to Yunosuke and Daisuke 6-2, 6-2.
Coach Asim Shafiq blamed the defeat on the players’ exhaustion after they featured in back-to-back tournaments. They began their WJT campaign on March 18 in the pre-qualifiers and later participated in the U16 Davis Cup before continuing their matches in the qualifiers.
“The U14 team has played extremely well, but I think their participation in the Davis Cup wore them out,” Shafiq told The Express Tribune. “Our players were a little discouraged by the Davis Cup defeats, which was evident in the WJT qualifiers.”
Pakistan now play a consolation match against Vietnam today.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan girls’ team finished third in the under-16 Davis Cup female event after winning three out of five matches.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2013.
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