Pakistan tennis decline continues

KARACHI: The performance of Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) is going down, a cursory look at its achievements in the past three years reveals.

The current management of the PTF took charge in December 2014.

Pakistan were ranked 34th in Davis Cup in 2015. They slid to 45 in 2016 and in 2017 are ranked 42nd after getting walkover against Hong Kong recently.

In Fed Cup, Pakistan were 13th in Asia out of 13 teams in 2014. In 2015 and 2016, the team’s position was ninth out of 11 teams.

In Junior Davis Cup (under-16), Pakistan stood second out of 14 teams in 2015. In 2016, they were fifth out of 14 teams and in 2017 seventh out of 14 teams.

The under-12 boys’ team recently stood sixth out of seven teams in Nepal.

In 2005 edition of Islamic Games, Pakistan won three gold medals, two silver and one bronze. Pakistan managed only one silver medal in the recent edition, in Baku. The women’s team too performed poorly and stood sixth among six teams.

“We were the only tennis power in Islamic world once but now we are nothing,” said a source. “We are already nowhere in Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and SAF Games,” he said.

The source added that PTF for the first time had so many top quality coaches in Islamabad, including level-3 coach Kamran Khalil and Asim Shafiq.

Also, Mushaf Zia and Mahboob Khan are USPTR coaches while Moin Khan is level-2 coach. “Besides, former Davis Cup players like Inam-ul-Haq, Shah Mahmood, Shahzad Khan are also coaching,” said the source.

The source added that there were more than one dozen coaches coaching at PTF complex in Islamabad including Mahmood Khan, Pervaiz Khan, and Aurangzeb Khan but the results were still poor.

“The current management is going to complete its term in October this year. The performance of our players in international events has only declined in these years,” said the source.