LAHORE-Former Davis Cupper and Punjab coach Khawaja Tayyab Iftikhar has revealed that his son Davis Cupper Samir Iftikhar is thinking about quitting tennis due to lack of sponsorship.
Talking to the reporters here at Sports Journalists Association of Lahore (SJAL) office on Tuesday, Tayyab appealed to the government to issue special grant for Samir for one year and if he fails to perform, his grants should be terminated.
He said that if Samir paid adieu to the game, it would be a great loss for Pakistan tennis. “Samir is now ITF world ranking player and is 1200 in ranking.” He revealed that Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shehbaz Sharif provided Samir four scholarships and he also got three international scholarships for education but now when he has started creating waves at the international level, he is struggling to have sponsors backing him up.
He said that after tennis star Aisamul Haq, Samir is the future of Pakistan tennis. He said if government backs the talented players, he would qualify for Wimbledon in the time of one or two years. He again appealed the federal as well as provincial governments and corporate sector to continue to support Samir as it will help him flourish for the country at international level.
Tayyab said he was a man of limited resources, who put his life in preparing his son for international tennis. “Now when Samir is an established player and has started earning laurels for the country, he is in a dire need of sponsorships to carry forward CM’s vision and holding aloft national flag across the globe.
“I appeal to the CM Punjab to order release of performance-based special grant in tune of Rs 3 million to enable him compete minimum professionally required 25 ITF Futures Tournament’s per year. The Davis Cupper announced to dedicate all his academic world records to CM Punjab and offered his son’s service on ITF professional circuit as goodwill ambassador to ‘Khadim-e-Aala’ sports talent hunt program. I am sure that the CM, after coming to know the accomplishments of my son and my epic struggle to bring him to this level, will certainly come to rescue and prevent national asset from going waste,” the ex-Davis Cupper said.
He also urged the corporate sector to come forward and help his son in achieving milestone for Pakistan as he wanted to represent the country in Wimbledon 2019/20. “If he is assured of financial support, he will fully focus on his game and on his targets, which he has vowed to achieve soon with his hard work, commitment and dedication,” Tayyab concluded.