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Pakistan in World Group Play-offs

By Samiul Hasan
Last updated on: May 01, 2005 21:03 IST
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Pakistan won both the reserve singles on Sunday to beat Chinese Taipei 4-1 in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I second round encounter and book their first ever World Group play-off berth.

Aisam, the world No 144, gave Pakistan an assailable 3-1 lead when he spent little under two hours to chalk out a famous and historic 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Yen-Hsun Lu in the first singles match and then Aqeel Khan completed the scoreline with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 over Yeu-Tzuoo Wang at the Defence Club in Lahore.

"It's a historic day for Pakistan tennis and I am extremely proud of being part of these celebrations. It has been a combined and dedicated team effort," Aisam said after the match.

Aisam, who won both his singles match and the doubles while pairing with Aqeel, fired 17 aces against his opponent's eight as the Pakistani dominate the match with his excellent all court play and fine drop shots.

His serve-and-volley ploy also worked for him as the Taipei player preferred to stay back and play from the baseline.

Pakistan tennis has reach new heights with the emergence of this 25-year-old player as in the previous round, they beat a start-studded Thailand and then went on to clinch three gold medals in last month's Islamic Solidarity Games.

"I think we have shown our potential and now it's for the people concerned to come forward and support Pakistan tennis that has the talent and future to improve further," Aisam said.

The World Group Play-offs will take place from September 23-25 for which draws will be announced on May 3 in London.

India, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Chile, Sweden, Belarus, USA, Germany and Great Britain have already qualified for the play-offs where they will be joined by a further five teams following the completion of Group I ties.

The eight nations that win World Group Play-offs will be in the World Group the following year, while the eight losers will start the following year in Group I.

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Samiul Hasan
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.

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