U14 team crashes out of event
National squad loses to Japan at World Junior Tennis.
“The U14 team has played extremely well, but I think their participation in the Davis Cup wore them out,” says coach Shafiq. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
Pakistan U14 team’s hopes of qualifying for the World Junior Tennis (WJT) Championship ended after they lost their second successive match to Japan 3-0 in Kuching, Malaysia yesterday.
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.
Pakistan U14 team’s hopes of qualifying for the World Junior Tennis (WJT) Championship ended after they lost their second successive match to Japan 3-0 in Kuching, Malaysia yesterday.
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.