Islamabad : Feb 2 : Captain of the national tennis team Muhammad Abid says that the players of the Pakistan team are determined to win in the Davis Cup, all the players will perform brilliantly in the Davis Cup. Before the India-Pakistan match in a local hotel,
Easam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Aqeel Khan and other players said in a press conference that the preparation of the Pakistani team is good, they will come back and win, our team is behind the Indian team in numbers, but the prayers of the nation. Easam-ul-Haq said that all the teams that came in the previous years were stronger than us, we have defeated strong teams in the past, we will have the advantage of grass courts, if necessary we will play singles matches as well.
Easam-ul-Haq said that he has not seen such a big press conference in Pakistan regarding the Davis Cup tie, Aqeel Khan said that there is an effort to establish a tennis academy in Pakistan, we want a tennis program for the whole of Pakistan. Aqeel Khan said that the ranking keeps going up and down, our preparation for the match against India is complete, we will try to play good tennis.
Davis Cup tie between Pakistan and India will be played on the grass court of Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad on February 3 and 4. Easam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Aqeel Khan, Muzamil Murtaza, Muhammad Shoaib and Barkatullah are included while Muhammad Abid is non-playing. Pakistan will be the captain after a long time in the first Davis Cup tennis match on its soil against traditional rival India. The two teams will compete in the Group One play-off match on the grass courts of Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad. Two doubles and two singles matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday
Meanwhile on other side the Indian High Commission Islamabad hosted a dinner in honor of the Indian Davis Cup team, visiting to Pakistan for the first time in 60 years. H.E. Ms, Geetika Srivastava, the first woman to head the Indian High Commission in Pakistan,
accorded a warm welcome to the Indian players and officials on otherday.The last time an Indian Davis Cup team travelled to Pakistan was way back in 1964.The bilateral sporting ties between the two nations have been hit due to diplomatic tension.H.E. Ms, Geetika Srivastava stated at this occasion that “It’s an honors to host the national Indian team here. It’s a historic occasion that an Indian team is visiting Pakistan after such a long time.
All of us here wish the team well for the match against Pakistan,” Shrivastava said.
The High Commission officials mingled with the players and asked questions about the game.
India and Pakistan will play on February 3-4 in a World Group I tie.
The winner will stay in Group I while the losing team will be relegated to Group II. India have never lost a tie to Pakistan in Davis Cup history.
