23 February 2005	Wednesday	13 Muharram 1426

LAHORE, Feb 22: Aasim Shafik and Shahzad Khan have been selected for the Pakistan Davis Cup team after conclusion of three-day trials on Tuesday.

Both Aasim and Shahzad have made the four-member team in which top seed Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan had already been selected without trials due to their rankings.

The four-member team will play the Davis Cup tie against Thailand here from March 4 to 6. On final day of trials, Aasim Shafik defeated Nomi Qamar 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 while Shahzad outclassed Jalil Khan 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 to get nod of the selection committee, headed by Khalid Sajjad Khokhar.

Shahzad from Faisalabad, who had represented the country in a Davis Cup tie held in Japan, will be representing Pakistan for the second time. Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) secretary Rashid Khan, who is also a member of the selection committee, told Dawn that the team was announced after having the consent of non-playing captain Mohammad Khalid and a representative from Punjab Rao Iftikhar.

"Though the preparations hampered due to constant rains in Punjab the team is capable of recovering the losses and hopefully Pakistan will beat Thailand," the PTF secretary said.

Meanwhile, the PTF could hardly meet the demand of the international body by submitting the team on Feb 22. According to ITF rules the team names must reach it 10 days before the start of the tie.