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| December 1, 2005 | Thursday | Shawwal 28, 1426 |
Tennis: Hameed pulls out amid controversy
ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: Controversy marred the third day of the Federal Cup tennis championship after former Davis Cup player Hameedul Haq pulled out of his match against Nomi Qamar in protest on Wednesday at the Islamabad Club.
The 44-year-old Hameed had taken the first set against his much younger opponent 6-2 and was up 3-1 in the second when his opponent began to contest umpire’s decisions.
It upset Hameed’s tempo and at one stage the president of Islamabad Tennis Association Hassan Dara had to interfere after Nomi continued to argue with the umpire.
Nomi, a current member of the Pakistan Davis Cup team and the third seed in this tournament, grew so frustrated that he tossed the ball on to the Club building nearby and threw his racket in disgust.
He even went to the extent of abusing the umpire and was twice given a warning for errant behaviour.
But Hameed, the reigning Asian Seniors champion thought that he had been deprived of an opportunity of upsetting his opponent.
“He should have been barred from the match after he was given a second warning,” he said.
“That he continued with his unsporting behaviour and was allowed to play on only proves the fact that the officials are against me and did not want me to win.”
Hameed said that he was left with no choice but to pull out after Nomi continued to behave the way he did.
Nomi won the second set in a tie-break 7-6 (5) and led 3-0 in the third when Hameed chose to walk out.
The incident was a good enough example of how poorly the sport is being run in the country with the game’s key managers not even on show at such an elite tournament as this.
Chief referee Arif Qureshi, a white badge umpire, and treasurer of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) seemed unable to control the ugly situation.
Meanwhile, top seed Aqeel Khan marched on comfortably, brushing aside Omer Babar 6-0, 6-2 while Shahzad Khan knocked out Tanveer Munir 6-0, 6-1.
There was an upset in the under-13 category with Hameed’s son Gibranul Haq showing second seed Yousuf Ajam the door, scoring a 4-1, 4-2 win.
Gibran will be up against his cousin Sadanul Haq, winner of the recent National grass court Championship at Lahore, in the semifinals.
Sadan defeated Farhan Shahid 4-1, 4-0.
Results:
Men’s singles pre-quarterfinal: Aqeel Khan bt Omer Babar 6-0, 6-2, Shahzad Khan bt Tanveer Munir 6-0, 6-1, Nomi Qamar bt Hameedul Haq 2-6, 7-6 (4), 3-0 (pulled out), Inam Gul bt Aftab Anar 6-0, 6-2, Muhammad Shafiq bt Abid Ali 6-2, 6-0, jalil Khan bt Munir Ashiq 6-3, 6-0, Mahmood Khan bt Saeedul Haq 6-2, 6-4, Asim Shafik bt Wasif Cheema 6-0, 6-0.
Men’s doubles first round: Rasheed Malik-Hameedul Haq walkover Pervaiz Khan and Lt. Cdr. Rizwan, Nomi Qamar-M.Shafiq bt Asad Masood-Saad Zia 6-0, 6-0, Usman Ijaz-Imran Shaukat bt Mubashir Afridi-Syed Abbas Raza 6-0, 6-2, Kelby Deese-Imran Ahmed bt Roman Gul-Mubarak Shah 6-1, 6-4, Mahmood Khan-Inam Gul bt Brig. Rehan Baqi-Aamir Malik 6-0, 6-1, Wasif Cheema-Munir Ashiq bt Shahid Afridi-Shahzad 7-5, 6-2, Aqeel Khan-Jalil Khan bt Kaleem Imam-Dr.Haroon 6-1, 6-2
Boys U-17: Singles pre-quarterfinals; Tanveer Ashiq bt Khursheed Abbasi 6-2, 6-4, Abdi Ali bt Nomanul Haq 6-4, 6-0, Yasir Khan bt Hira Ashiq 6-0, 6-0, Ahmed M. Aslam bt Imran Shaukat 6-0 , 7-6 (5), Usman Ijaz bt Fahad Ali 6-4, 0-6, 6-2, Omer Babar bt Zulfiqar Ahmed 6-1, 6-2, Mubashir Afridi w/o Tanveer Munir, Khurrum Nazir bt Yousuf Ajam 6-4, 6-3
Boys U-13: singles quarterfinals: Syed Zohair Raza bt Ahmed Ch. 4-0, 1-4, 5-3, Kashanul Haq bt Zahid Ajam 2-4, 4-2, 4-2, Sadanul Haq bt Farhan Shahid 4-1, 4-0, Gibranul Haq bt Yousuf Ajam 4-1, 4-2
Ladies singles: Sara Mansoor bt Mehak Khokhar 6-1, 6-1, Zara Omer bt Quratul Ain 6-2, 6-0, Maryam Rahim w/o Fatima Mansoor, Anoosha Aslam bt Zainab Khan 6-2, 6-0.
Girls U-17 singles: Quratul Ain bt Maryam Rasheed 4-0, 4-0.
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