Pakistan Complains When New Zealand Is Awarded Davis Cup Victory

Written by: Staff on 8th April 2013

Pakistan Complains When New Zealand Is Awarded Davis Cup Victory |

Pakistan has lodged an official complaint to the International Tennis Federation after the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II tie against New Zealand was abandoned due to a large hole appearing on the baseline of the grass court in the neutral venue of Yangon, Myanmar.

The tie was awarded to New Zealand as responsibility for the court fell to Pakistan, who had home advantage but are unable to play within their own borders because of security issues, and Sri Lankan referee Asitha Attygalla judged the court to be “unplayable”.

New Zealand captain Alistair Hunt maintained: “There was a hole about “an inch deep and half a foot wide, that opened up on the baseline, and proved too dangerous to play on.”

Pakistan’s Aqeel Khan beat New Zealand’s Artem Sitak in the opening singles while Pakistan doubles specialist Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi was leading Daniel King Turner 6-2, 3-6,3-0 in the second singles rubber when the referee halted the tie.

Kaleem Imam, Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) president, disagreed and protested. “What we have complained is that when the grass surface was okay for the first match, what went wrong in just a few hours’ time that it turned unplayable?” he asked .”We also met all requirements asked for by the referee.”

Imam maintained the venue had been chosen in preference to either Dubai or a city in India because the Pakistan players preferred to play on grass.

He added: “The players were very distraught after the referee’s decision and it is a financial disaster for us. We spent thousands of dollars on preparing for this tie and sending a full-fledged squad to Yangon.

“ We were desperate to win this tie and confident we could do it. We had no option but to complain to the ITF.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Davis Cup, Itf, New Zealand tennis news, Pakistan tennis news