… Pak tennis woos players across the border

“Pakistan have qualified for the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup Group I and will visit Uzbekistan from February 14. The matches will be played indoors. We will be at a disadvantage as there is no indoor tennis hall in our country,” lamented Rehmani. He was, however, confident the talented Asian JuniorNo 1 Aisam Qureshi, Pakistan No 1 Mohammed Khalid, Aqeel Khan and Asim Shafiq were capable of upsetting formidable opponents on a given day.

Rehmani strongly advocated frequent visits of tennis players between the two countries. “On our part, we send invitation every year to the Indian players to take part in the National Ranking Championships in Pakistan. The invitation always goes to the All India Tennis Association. However, no response comes from the Indian players. This year the Rs two lakh prize money national meet will be held prior to the ITF Junior Circuit in November. This will provide an opportunity to the Indian players to compete in the Pakistan Nationals as well as the ITF Junior Circuit,” disclosed the PTF joint secretary.

This is Rehmani’s second visit to Chandigarh. He was here in 1989, as manager of the Pakistan team for the ITF Junior Circuit. Top Pakistan player Usman Rahim lost to Leander Paes in the final ten years ago. The other members of the team were Farhan Malik, Umar Rashidand Azim Khan. Rehmani informed the promising Usman suffered from paralysis while diving in shallow waters of a pool in the US. “A bright tennis career was ruined.”An encouraging trend, Rehmani felt, was the growing interest of Pakistani girls in tennis. Nida Waseem is an upcoming star, the reigning ladies champion in Pakistan. She made her maiden appearance in India this year. After Delhi, she has come to Chandigarh where she is seeded sixth. The sixteen-year-old has improved a lot in the last two years. Recently, she reached the semi-final of ITF Tennis in Colombo. In quarter-finals, she had beaten Radhika Tulpule of India in straight sets. After Colombo ITF, her ITF ranking will be around 400. She had twice participated in the Fed Cup and also went to the Bangkok Asian Games. Among the boys, the new crop of Nomi Qamar, 17, Ahmed Wahla, 18, and tall Zia Hai, 16, is shaping well.