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| 24 September 2004 | Friday | 08 Shaban 1425 |
Kiwis hopeful of beating Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Sept 23: New Zealand "do not expect to lose" as they go into their Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I playoff against Pakistan on Friday at the Islamabad Club.
With their top player Mark Nielsen drawn to play the opening singles against Pakistan's Aqeel Khan, the New Zelanders will be bidding to avoid relegation for the first time ever to Group II.
"We are not thinking about relegation...it is not an issue for us and we are not expecting to lose," Bruce Derlin, the visiting non-playing captain said on Thursday. In Friday's second singles, Aisamul Haq Qureshi will take on Simon Rea, a draw that left Derlin quite pleased. "I am glad that Mark (Nielsen) is playing the first match, that is going to put pressure on Aisam in the second match."
But Pakistan's non-playing captain Rashid Malik quickly dismissed that notion. "I do not think this will happen because Aisam is in top form and has been playing international tournaments in recent months."
"Aqeel is also in good shape after his string of successes in the last couple of months and it is because of the fine form of these two players that we will be entering the tie with a positive frame of mind," Rashid said.
Derlin was clearly wary of Aisam's potential. "To me rankings do not mean anything but his ranking does. He is among top 200 and with Pakistan playing at home, that's something we have to deal with."
However, he made it clear that he was expecting a positive result for his side. "We will be focussing on each match as it comes." For the doubles match to be played on the second day on Saturday, the hosts put up the names of Asim Shafik and Aqeel with the visitors naming Nielsen and Rea. The pairings can however be changed one hour before the match.
Rival captains agreed that the doubles would be crucial. "It is always important as it finishes the tie one way or the other or keeps it alive for the other team," Derlin said while Rashid endorsed those views.
The touring team that had problems early on with the clay court at the Islamabad Club, are now happy with its condition. "It is getting better; we spoke to the referee and they fixed up the court a lot. It wasn't too good to start with."
Pakistan meanwhile are hoping to avenge their 5-0 defeat they suffered at Hamilton last year. "Yes definitely we would like to settle that score but I am not making any tall claims as according to my calculations, we have a 50-50 chance of winning," said Rashid, a former Davis Cup player.
New Zealand have a relatively inexperienced side with Nielsen, the only survivor from Hamilton. "This time round we have some young, sort of talented but inexperienced guys, still I think it is going to be a very a close tie and should provide an interesting three days of tennis," touring manager Patrick O'Rourke said.
FRIDAY'S MATCHES (SINGLES): Aqeel Khan (Pak) v Mark Nielsen (NZ); Aisamul Haq (Pak) v Simon Rea (NZ)
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