Davis Cup: Pakistan to begin campaign as favourites

Aisam joins squad to compete in doubles rubber.

KARACHI: Pakistan will kick-off their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone Group II tie against hosts Vietnam as favourites Thursay.

Aisamul Haq Qureshi has been inducted in the squad for the first-round tie in Da Lat City, after crashing out of the opener at the World Tennis Tournament in Netherlands.

Pakistan have an 80% chances of winning the ties against group II newcomers Vietnam, according to Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) President Kaleem Imam. He said that the team was all set for the opening singles rubber.

Aqeel Khan will play the first rubber against Quang-Ho NGO while Muhammad Abid be next in line to take on Thien Nguyen Hoang in another singles rubber.

“The tennis pundits are saying that we have an 80% chance of winning the tie,” Imam told The Express Tribune. “We have sent our best players for the tournament, and Aisam has also joined them.”

“He reached Vietnam on Thursday and will take some rest before appearing in the doubles rubber with Aqeel.” Imam further stated that Asiam’s presence would be a great support for the team even though earlier, the tennis ace had opted out of playing the tie due to the clash in Davis Cup dates and his ATP tour schedule.

The PTF had failed to communicate the change in the dates of the Davis Cup tie to Aisam earlier this month. It was originally scheduled to take place in the first week of the month; however, the matches were postponed

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2014.

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