ISLAMABAD: Veterans Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan teamed up to ensure a dominant victory for Pakistan as they brushed aside Indonesia 5-0 in the Davis Cup World Group-II tie on Sunday.

With the victory, Pakistan have now qualified for the World Group-I playoff which will be held in the first quarter of 2024 with the draws scheduled to be held on Sept. 20.

The duo of Aisam and Aqeel defeated the pair of Indonesian brothers David and Anthony Susanto 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 here at the Pakistan Sports Complex.

The Indonesian duo were poised to register the first point for their country as they clinched the first set rather comfortably but it seemed that it awa¬ken the experienced Pakistan pair. The next set was David and Anthony’s for the taking as the second was tied at 5-5 but a brilliant display from 43-year-old Aqeel kept Pakistan in the competition and took the match to the decisive third set.\ Then it was all Aisam-Aqeel show as they dominated to secure Pakis¬tan’s place in the Group-I playoffs. The last match of the tie saw Pakistan’s Mohammad Shoaib showing great heart as he came from behind in both sets to beat Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-6(4), 6-4.

Earlier, Aqeel got a walk-over in the fourth-match, a dead rubber, against David as he wasn’t fit enough to compete.

“This victory is important for us. Let me appreciate my senior players Aisam and Aqeel along with promising Shoaib,” Pakistan head coach Mushaf Zia told Dawn. “Now we have moved into World Group playoff, which is a matter of pride.”

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 19 2023

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