ISLAMABAD: Pakistan after a gap of 12 long years will play hosts to the long-awaited Davis cup tie against Iran which will be played on Friday today here at the tennis court of the Pakistan Sports Complex.

With Pakistani players being all set to yield the desired results, the long serving national champion Aqeel Khan will play the first match against Iran’s Shahin Kkaldan while Pakistan’s tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq will take on Iran’s Anosha Shahgholi, according to the draw.

The official draw ceremony of the Davis Cup tie between Pakistan and Iran in the first round of Asia Oceania Group II was held on Thursday here at a local hotel with ITF gold badge referee Stéphane Apostolou taking the draw in presence of both teams and their officials. Mohammad Khalid Rehmani represented Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) in the draw ceremony.

Captain of Pakistan team Rashid Malik gave names of Mohammad Abid Ali Akbar and Mohammad Abid Mushtaq for the doubles match which will be played on Saturday.

Pakistan team comprise the best available players in Aisam-ul-Haq, Aqeel Khan, Mohammad Abid Ali Akbar and Mohammad Abid Mushtaq.

Talking to Dawn, Abid Mushtaq said that he along with his team-mates were super happy over playing the Davis Cup tie on the home ground. “It’s a matter of joy as I will enjoy the support of local crowd for the first time in the Davis Cup tie. I would also request fans to come and witness the matches,” he maintained.

“The championship will boost confidence of young players as they will get exposure of playing against international players. It’s, in fact, a very good opportunity for youngsters to watch and learn from each other,” he added.

Talking about preparation, he said that all participating players did a lot of hard work for the tie and “we are hopeful of giving favourable results,” he said, adding the championship would play an important role in the revival of all kinds of international tennis events in Pakistan.

The general public is not allowed to enter into the venue because of security issue. However, they could watch the matches live on the national television.

“We had to invite selected gathering of around 400 peoples, including tennis players and other stakeholders, as the ITF didn’t allow us to open the championship for general public, ,” said the PTF secretary.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2017