ISLAMABAD, Dec 20: Former national No. 1 Hameedul Haq, once a vocal critic of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) Friday appreciated the steps taken in recent months by the game’s managers.

“Things have certainly improved and I am delighted that players and coaches who were being ignored previously are now getting the importance they deserve,” Hameed told Dawn.

“Coaches of repute like Mahboob Khan, Inamul Haq, Muhammad Khalid and Amman Asghar, all of whom had accepted assignments abroad in the past, have returned to their homeland to serve the sport. This clearly shows that the PTF today is taking the right steps that are vital for the development of tennis.”

Hameed, who was awarded the prestigious President’s Medal for Pride of Performance in 2000, pointed out that these coaches were an asset for the nation. “The PTF has done well to have given them important assignments, something the former office- bearers of the federation did not do.”

Mahboob, who has just come back from Kuwait, is a highly qualified coach and has been given charge of the first phase of training for the Davis Cup while Khalid has been given the job for the second stage on his return, also from Kuwait.

Similarly, Inam, who has only recently returned from a coaching stint in Saudi Arabia, has been named the coach-cum- manager of the under-14 team headed for Colombo next month.

Amman Asghar, who was based in Canada until recently, has been appointed head of the Schools Tennis Initiative (STI) programme. Amman, Inam and Khalid are all former Davis Cup players.

Hameed, said that Pakistan had taken a big step forward by earning promotion to the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I. “If this doesn’t indicate improvement than what does,” he questioned.

Pakistan defeated Taiwan and China on their way to Group I, scoring victories over both nations for the first time in two decades.

Hameed, himself a former Davis Cup player, who is now into coaching, said that players who helped Pakistan win the tie against China had been given handsome rewards by the federation. “It is because of the personal efforts of Syed Dilawar Abbas that the Davis Cup team earned over Rs 1 million. This is unprecedented as in the past no Pakistan team has earned this much for winning one single tie.”

“Also the federation is concentrating on developing the PTF Complex in collaboration with the Capital Development Authority and once this is done it would provide an excellent venue for holding international competitions and become an important training centre,” said Hameed, the current Asian veteran champion.

But he added that it would however facilitate the PTF if the SAF Games secretariat donated a good sum of money in this regard as they have done with other sports like boxing and hockey.