LAHORE, July 31: Due to the lethargic and laidback approach of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) the country squandered a genuine chance to record its first ever representation in Olympics as ace player Aisam-ul-Haq failed to get a wild card entry for the Beijing extravaganza.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has recently finalised six entries through wild cards and Aisam failed to get their nod as the PTF failed to make the required efforts to plead the case of Pakistan’s best tennis player properly.

Setting aside Aisam’s standing in Asia and his achievements in tennis after having played at Wimbledon, US open and Australian Open while representing a country lesser known in the global world of tennis, the ITF gave Asia’s wild card to a Japanese player.

Some sources in the PTF said on Wednesday that the decision to allocate six wild cards to players from across the globe was finalised last month and at that important meeting on the sidelines of Wimbledon there was no representation from Pakistan to convince the ITF regarding Aisam.

“There was no one from the PTF to attend that meeting to plead Aisam’s case and to make efforts for mustering ITF support on that important issue,” they said.

Aisam enjoyed 125th ranking in the beginning of this which has dropped in recent months and he is the first ever Pakistan player to come closer for making an appearance in the Olympics.

The PTF should have availed the rare chance with strong lobbying through the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF). However, his case was not handled professionally and the country has lost a chance to have its first ever representation in Olympic tennis, the sources added.

It is not the first disappointment for Aisam. The PTF and Pakistan Olympics Association (POA) wasted a wild card entry from Asian region in November-December last year when they failed to submit the name of Aisam before the deadline.

When contacted, Secretary PTF Mohammad Rashid said the federation did its level best to get a wild card entry for Aisam but the player was not considered because of his low ranking.

Interestingly, the ITF has allocated its remaining five cards, barring the young Japanese player, to such players who are at the fag end of their careers. The logic given by the PTF secretary is not valid as the ITF has not taken into consideration the ranking of players while allocating the wild cards.

Meanwhile, Aisam, who is playing in the ITF Challengers event in Brazil these days, said it was unfortunate he could not participate in the Olympics.

“I am not going to blame any one but I believe that my case was not properly handled by the authorities concerned,” he said.—APP