Pakistan‘s Davis Cup victory against Thailand ‘’Hope comes true’’ Aqeel Khan showed his importance why he considered country best player
By.Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD; The Davis Cup victory: Pakistan tennis team’s ‘’Hope comes true’’ Pakistan’s veteran tennis star Aqeel Khan showed importance just why he is considered one of the best players in the country as he helped Pakistan seal the win at the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group II final. Pakistan’s veteran tennis star Aqeel Khan defeated Thailand’s Kittiphong Wachiramanowong 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2 in a marathon last reverse singles rubber that went on for more than three hours at the Pakistan Sports Board Complex in Islamabad. Tennis star Aqeel Khan began the rubber with confidence and seemed to be romping towards a victory — taking the first two sets 6-4, 6-3 — but age almost seemed to catch up to him in the next two sets as Wachiranmanowong went on to level the match with 6-3, 6-2 wins in the next two sets for Thailand.The fifth and final set was to be a battle of nerves and Aqeel showed just how prized experience is as he ran into a 4-0 lead that left his visiting opponent with little hope. The clinching set was won 6-2, with Aqeel claiming 15 aces and 142 points won in the game.Pakistan’s veteran tennis star Aqeel Khan‘s crucial win helped Pakistan win the tie, which was 2-2 after the fourth rubber. The country’s most seasoned player had huge responsibility on his shoulders and was taking on a much younger opponent in Wachiramanowong in the last match of the tie. “I can’t believe it, I wouldn’t want to play this five-setter again,” a delighted but spent Aqeel told media after winning the match. “It was tough, it was demanding and the pressure was immense but I think I got through because of the crowd, because of my teammates.” He also praised Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) for their enormous efforts in bringing talented youth to fore.PTF has been working on various future programmes in order to dig out the young talent,” he said. He also lauded PTF for their hard work in bringing international tennis tournaments to Pakistan from the International Tennis Federation (ITF).“ITF has allotted three $15,000 tournaments to PTF to be hosted in November and December which is a great achievement,” he said. Aqeel revealed he didn’t want the tie to go the distance, especially since Pakistan won both rubbers on day one. “I was telling Aisam that he should win his rubber; I was on the court the whole time praying for it, because obviously we didn’t want the situation to get desperate, but I guess it was written for me to win this tie for Pakistan. We are all ecstatic. And I have to give it to Aisam for playing such a long match right before mine. The Davis Cup is something else. It’s not just tennis, it’s what we are doing for our country more than for ourselves, and the emotion is completely different.”Aqeel revealed he went for broke in the final set, knowing that he needed to change something to stop Wachiramanowong’s onslaught.“I was leading by two sets and then suddenly it was two all. So of course it was a lot of pressure, but the point is I wasn’t getting any free points,” he said. “Everyone was thinking that I was tired, but I wasn’t. During that break I just told myself that I need to change my body language, I need to be more aggressive, and I think that worked. I just want to thank everyone who stuck by us, and worked with us during this tie.”Pakistan were 2-1 up at the end of day two but Aisamul Haq Qureshi had the tough task to begin the day, taking on Thailand’s top-seed Wishaya Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul as the fourth rubber of the tie also went on for five sets. Aisam lost the first two sets to Trongcharoenchaikul 7-5, 7-6, but took the next two sets to make it 2-2.Just like Aqeel though, Trongcharoenchaikul kept his nerves to deny his opponent a memorable comeback in a marathon match that lasted for more than four hours. Earlier Thailand beat Pakistan equaled finals 2-2 in four hours 40 minutes marathon 1st reverse single match on tiebreak 5/6, 6/7, 6/4, 7/6, 7/3, Aqeel Khan was the last hope in the decider second reverse singles .Pakistan’s number 1 player Aisam ul Haq got injured in last set .Aisam was looking tired and struggling with his shots as he was not bending properly to meet the ball. Aisam ul Haq many times takes time to recover his injury in his right foot problem and rehydration .Thailand player Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikuc, beat Pakistan’s number 1 player Aisam ul Haq in last set in six minute on tiebreak 7/3 and leveled the best of five finals 2-2. After losing the 1st reverse singles. He was the Pakistan last hope tennis star Aqeel Khan himself hoped to play his major role for Pakistan’s victory in the second. Aqeel, who has been Pakistan No. 1 for the last 18 years was 100 % fit .Earlier the Thai team after lost both singles bounce backed and won their doubles match against Pakistan to reduce the hosts’ lead to 2-1 in the Asia Oceania Davis Cup Group II final at the Pakistan Sports Complex grass courts here on other day. Thailand bounced back to life in their Asia/Oceania Zone Group 2 battle with Pakistan yesterday when twin brothers Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana picked up their first win. Thailand started the day trailing. Asian No 1 doubles pair Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana got the better of Pakistan No 2 pair of Mohammad Abid and Shahzad Khan 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 to put Thailand on the board. The experienced Thai pair took time to settle down. They lost the opening set after Sonchat’s serve was broken in the dying moments of the set. After going up 1-0, Pakistan pair of Shahzad and Abid lost their momentum in the second set. Both Thai brothers were seen hitting winners one after another to seize the initiative. After winning the second set by the narrowest of margins, the Ratiwatana brothers totally dominated the third and fourth sets respectively to seal the victory. The Pakistani pair double-faulted eight times against the four committed by their Thai counterparts.“Since both Pakistan ace players have already crossed 37, it would have been difficult for them to play on all three days in the scorching heat. As a planned strategy, we had decided to field the back-up pair leaving both Aisam and Aqeel fresh for the reverse singles on Sunday,” Mohammad Khalid, the team’s non-playing captain said. “We have a plan in our mind which says that these two senior players should be used according to the situation. They have given us numerous victories in the past and hopefully they would do it in the future as well and Sunday would be no exception,” team coach Mushaf Zia said.