PTF names Shahzad, Heera for Davis cup tie
Shahzad Khan and Heera Ashiq to join Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi, Aqeel Khan and Muzammil Murtaza for Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group-I tie against Uzbekistan from 6th -7th April.
Pakistan Tennis Federation conducted trial matches among the three highest ranked national players after Aqeel to fill the two vacant places in the team. Although Shahzad, Heera and M Abid Mushtaq registered the same number of wins in the trials, the first two were picked on the basis of head-to-head win count.
In the last match, Shahzad defeated Heera by 6-1, 6-2. Earlier, Heera outplayed Abid by 7-6, 6-3 while Abid had won over Shahzad by 6-7, 7-5, 6-3. The selection trials were held on the grass courts of the Aisamul Haq Tennis Complex at the Pakistan Sports Complex here from March 17-19.
All the players will travel to Lahore to play in the Sheheryar Malik National Grass Court Championships from March 25-31. The Davis Cup team players will also hold practice and training sessions during the course of the tournament. On return to Islamabad, they will get another four days or so to train on grass before the Davis Cup tie on April 6-7. Aisam is expected to join the team at the end of the current month or early April.
