Davis Cup Tai 2017: Aisamul Haq, Aqeel Khan, give Pakistan winning start against Iran

Davis Cup Tai 2017: Aisamul Haq, Aqeel Khan, give Pakistan winning start against Iran

 

 

By.Asghar Ali Mubarak

ISLAMABAD-Pakistani tennis stars Aisam-ul-Haq  and Aqeel Khan saw Pakistan off to a winning start on the opening day of their Asia Oceania Group II Davis Cup tie against Iran on Friday.Aqeel and Aisam, both playing singles, defeated their rivals Shahin Khaledan 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 and Anoosha Shahgholi 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, respectively, giving Pakistan a 2-0 lead over Iran.Pakistani team comprises Aqeel Khan, Aisam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali Akbar and Abid Mushtaq. Rashid Malik is the captain. This event is Pakistan’s first Davis Cup tennis tie at home in 12 years, as the hosts were earlier forced to play at neutral venues due to security fears.Iran’s team consists of Anoosha Shahgholi, Shahin Khaledan, Hamid Reza Nadaf, and Amir Hossein Badi. Their non-playing captain is Saeid Ahmadvand.The tie, which is the first round of Asia Oceania Group II, is being played from February 3-5 at Pakistan Sports complex’s refurbished synthetic courts. Pakistan and Iran have played each other thrice, with former winning two ties (both in Iran) and latter winning once in Pakistan. Pakistan is set to play its first Davis Cup tie at home in 12 long years after the Iranian squad landed in Islamabad for the Asia/Oceania Group II tie. The Secretary, Pakistan Tennis Federation  Mr.Khalid Rehmani, said “this is very important for Pakistan tennis which has suffered a lot due to no Davis Cup tie or international tennis being held in Pakistan in the last 12-years,” Rehmani said.He said the PTF with the cooperation of the government had made top security arrangements for the Iranian squad.“It is after much difficulty we got the International Tennis Federation to allow us to host our Davis Cup tie at home,” he said. Saeed Ahmadvand, the coach of the Iranian team said Islamabad is a beautiful and safe city. Mean while Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Kuwait and Philippines are the other competing teams in the Group I. Earlier the in the past years, Philippines, Indonesia, Kuwait, Thailand have all refused to play their Davis Cup ties in Pakistan and the PTF was forced to host the ties at neutral venues. The Pakistan top seed tennis players Aisam Ul Haq, Aqeel Khan, Abid Ali Akbar , Abid Mustaq, Rashid Malik non-playing team captain stated that  Pakistan is a safe country for international sports. Pakistan top player Aisam Ul Haq said that the event will not only uplift tennis but also uplift all other sports in the country. “I am very much excited playing in front of home crowd in home court”, Aisam Ul Haq expressed his feelings .Aisam ul Haq said he is happy to defeat Iranian rivals, “we have never lost a single tie since 1998”, he said. Aqeel Khan said that hard court is favoring us, as Iranians were trained on clay and grass courts. He said we have already defeated much better players then Iranian that why today match was not difficult for us. Rashid Malik non-playing team captain said that in past Pakistan was not given an opportunity to host international event which has affected the player’s performance.Iranian contingent includes Seifollah Behzadpour coach, Mostafa Ataei trainer, Mehrshad Poursaeed Esfahani physician, Saeed Ahmadvand team captain, players are Anoosha Shahgholi, Shahin Khaledan, Alborz Akhavan, Amir Hossein Badi, Nadaf Sachani Hamidreza. “As far as the hospitality and the hotels are concerned, everything is perfect,” Ahmedvand told media. “So far we are very happy to be here and we will looking for the better  results in next match in doubles and reverse singles  against Pakistan. “We are depending on Shahin [Khaledan], he is our best player,” said Ahmedvand. “He joined the team during the last phase of our camp because he lives in Spain, but he has performed strongly for our side in the previous ties.”Iran won their Group II play-off against Syria 2-1 to get promoted to Group II where Shahgholi won the singles match, but Khaledan was again the key player as he helped his side win singles rubbers in three other ties that got the team to Group II.