Junior Davis Cup: Pakistan taste defeat in opening encounter

Team fails to impress against Chinese Taipei in qualifying round.

KARACHI: Pakistan went down to second seeds Chinese Taipei 3-0 as they began their Junior Davis Cup U16 qualifiers campaign for the World Group in Kuching, Malaysia on Monday.

The boys’ team had made it to the qualifiers after finishing first in the pre-qualifying round that took place in March, where they surprised top contenders including Syria, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. However, Pakistan failed to continue the same form in the second qualifying round of the Asia-Oceania zone Group-B.

The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) is fielding the country’s top junior players Mudassir Murtaza, Muzammil Murtaza and Muhammad Zaid Mujahid.

The three were selected to represent Pakistan after trials earlier this year before competing in the tournament in March.



In Monday’s match against Chinese Taipei, Mujahid put up a hard fight in the opening match of the tie. However, he lost to Cing Yang Meng 6-2, 6-4 in an encounter that lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

Chinese Taipei continued to dominate in the second rubber as well. Mudassir fell against Tung Lin Wu 6-0, 6-0, while Muzammil and Mujahid failed to win the doubles rubber as they were ousted 6-0, 6-1.

Pakistan will play their next match against Hong Kong, who registered a 2-1 win in their opening match against Malaysia.

Meanwhile, PTF President Kaleem Imam said that the players should enjoy their matches in order to win.

“It can be anybody’s game, but our players are talented and they should feel the thrill of the tournament,” Imam told The Express Tribune. “We’ve sent the best junior players from Pakistan and I hope that they’ll perform well.”

Imam also expressed his confidence in Jalil Khan, the team’s coach.

“Jalil is definitely among the best coaches we have available to us,” said Imam. “He has been working with the young players for a considerable time. He is still an upcoming coach but capable of giving good results.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2014.

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