ISLAMABAD - Abid Ali Akbar and Ahmed Chaudhry Thursday joined seasoned campaigners Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan to represent the country in Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group-II tie against Kuwait at the neutral venue of Colombo, Sri Lanka commencing from March 4.
Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) selection committee chairman Khawaja Saeed Hai, who is also senior executive vice president of the federation, has announced the Davis Cup team after four-day trials conducted at Senator Syed Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex, in which top eight players of the country participated. Abid and Ahmed finished No 1 and 2 respectively as Aisam and Aqeel, like past, were exempted from trials.
It is pertinent to mention here that Ahmed was not invited for the trials at all, despite the young lad from Islamabad winning the ranking event, in which he had defeated Aqeel Khan in quarterfinals stage, a feat which was not witnessed in a decade. On strong protest from different quarters and involvement of PTF president Salim Saifullah Khan, the issue was resolved and not only Ahmed but other top players were also invited for the camp. Ahmed proved his worth by winning all his matches with only defeat against Abid. Davis Cupper Rashid Malik will travel with the team as non-playing captain.