Pakistan failed to make an impact against top-seeded Japan in the Men’s Team Event at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup Wheelchair Tennis Asian Qualification Event in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Wednesday.
In singles, Asif Abbasi, ranked over 120, lost to Takuya Miki, Japan’s world number 9 and Paralympic silver medalist, with a score of 6-0, 6-1, while Fida Hussain was defeated by Daisuke Srai with a 6-0, 6-0 scoreline.
In the doubles event, Fida Hussain and Ihsanullah lost to the Japanese duo 6-0, 6-2.
Reflecting on the team’s journey, Muhammad Khalid Rehmani, Special Vice President of the Pakistan Tennis Federation and Member of the Wheelchair Tennis Committee of the Asian Tennis Federation, highlighted the team’s progress since they began participating in international competitions in 2022.
“Alhamdulillah, we had the opportunity to go to Turkey and Thailand, and for the first time in 75 years, we participated in the Asian Games,” Rehmani said. “We even managed to defeat a country in the Asian Games and secured a victory over India in Turkey.”
Rehmani emphasized that Pakistan’s wheelchair tennis team was still in the development phase.
“In the tournament’s draw, we got a fixture against top seed Japan in the first round. One of their players was world number one and is now ranked number two,” he explained. “In contrast, our player Asif Abbasi is currently ranked over 120, and the rest of the players have not had much international exposure.”
Clash against India
Pakistan is now set to face India in their next match. The two teams have come face to face twice in the tournament: Pakistan triumphed in Antalya, Turkey, in 2022, while India claimed victory in Pattaya, Thailand, the following year.
Commenting on the upcoming match against India, Rehmani said Pakistan had defeated arch-rivals once and were ready to do it again tomorrow.
Wheelchair Tennis development program
Looking ahead, Rehmani outlined plans for 2025 to provide players with more international exposure through ITF tournaments, aiming to improve their rankings and performance.
“One of the key things we are focusing on in 2025 is to give our players exposure in ITF tournaments so they can get a better ranking and understand how much more effort they need to put in,” he added.
In 2024, the Pakistan Tennis Federation initiated development programs in five cities: Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Lahore, and Peshawar. Building on this foundation, Rehmani announced plans to expand these initiatives in 2025 to include Quetta, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad.
“We will try to identify talented players from these cities so that we have a strong pool of players to select from for international events,” he added.
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