Qureshi’s ace to volleys of threat

Pakistani tennis player Aisum-ul-Haq Qureshi laughed off his government’s threats to investigate his pairing with Israel’s Amir Hadad at the Wimbledon championships.

Reacting to news that sports minister SK Tressler would look into the politically contentious pairing that reached the third round, Qureshi said: “I think if they (Pakistan) want to qualify for group one (Davis Cup) then I’ll have to play. I’ll be there to play. It’s going to be okay,” Qureshi said after he and Hadad lost 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 to seventh seeds Martin Damm and Cyril Suk of the Czech Republic. “I don’t know what’s happening. No-one has contacted me at all.

“Some people have said positive things. Some people have said negative things. But I think it’s going to be okay. I have a good relationship with them.”

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Qureshi’s pairing with Hadad has drawn sharp reaction from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) which has threatened to ban the player. “The government will definitely approach this issue. As we don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel, we don’t recognise it,” Tressler told Reuters earlier.

“But it would be premature to say what we can do. All I can say is that Aisam’s decision to play with an Israeli was not morally correct.”

(Reuters)