ISLAMABAD - The Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group-II final between Pakistan and Chinese Taipei stood at 1-1 on the first day Friday at the neutral venue of Izmir, Turkey.
Pakistan's longest serving No 1 Aqeel Khan gave Pakistan perfect start in the final, as he won the first singles against Chinese Taipei No 2 Jui Chen Hung 3-1 in 3 hour and 25 minutes marathon four-set match. In the second singles, Samir Iftikhar was beaten all hands up by Jimmy Wang, who thrashed the Pakistani in straight sets without putting any fight 6-3, 6-2, 6-0, as honors was shared on the first day.
Despite going down 1-0 in the first set, Aqeel started the first set on a very low losing the first serve and was soon 0-2 down, before bouncing back to level the score at 2-2. Then it became 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, and after that he failed to hold onto his serve and lost the first set 7-5.
The second set started in same fashion, as Aqeel lost his first service, then it was 2-0, as he held onto his serve, he had great chance of making it 3-0, as he was 40-0 up, but Aqeel bounced back in style, and made it 40-40, it was long game, they had around 7 to 8 deuce, before he had been able to level the set at 2-2. At that point, the Pakistani raced onto a very comfortable 5-2 lead, before making it 5-3. At that, he lost his serve and it was 5-4, but Aqeel immediately broke his serve to win the set 6-4.
Aqeel never allowed his opponent any chance in the third set and won it 6-1. It was a morale booster set for him and his confidence level was sky high. So the Pakistani top player started the fourth set very well and exchanged long rallies and managed to hold onto their serves in the first three games. Aqeel then broke his opponent’s serve to make it 4-3, but his rival bounced back and levelled the score at 4-4. Aqeel again broke his serve to and was leading 5-4 and managed to hold onto his serve to win the set 6-4 to draw first blood for Pakistan. Talking to The Nation from Izmir, Aqeel looked highly pumped up and full of life, as he described his victory quite emotionally and termed it one of the best victories of his long career. “I was not expecting, such a strong comeback, as I had recently overcome shoulder injury, which disturbed me for more than a year or so. Thanks to Almighty, with the prayers of my parents and well-wishers, I had been able to carve out sensational victory for my country.”
When asked whether he would partner Aisam in the doubles or Abid Ali would play as per early schedule, Aqeel said: “Let see, as we will sit together and devise plan. If Hameed wants me to play, I will be more than ready to do so and I am very grateful to Hameed, Aisam and my teammates for their overwhelming support. I request the entire nation to pray for our success,” Aqeel concluded.
In the second semifinal played between Samir Iftikhar and Jimmy Wang, Samir was given a tennis lesson by Jimmy, who faced some resistance in the first set before winning the set 6-3. Jimmy was in awesome form in the second set and won it 6-2 and was unplayable in the third set, as he won the third set without dropping a single game 6-0. The match lasted for 1 hour and 35 minutes. Now there are 70 percent chances that Aqeel will shoulder burden of playing the doubles alongside Aisam, despite playing marathon 3 hour plus singles match on the opening day.
Pakistan's super star and lone international fame player Aisamul Haq Qureshi, who missed the semifinals due to injury, is now fully fit and ready to lead Pakistan's charge as playing captain. For the time being, Aisam is partnered with Abid Ali Akbar in the doubles match today (Saturday) against Chieh Fu Wang/Cheng Yu Yu pair, but Pakistan has the option of changing the players one hour prior to the match time.