PTF forms U14 team of dual nationals for WJT championship

KARACHI: After rejection of visas by Czech Republic, Pakistan Tennis Federation has formed a new under-14 team comprising dual nationals for participation in the finals of World Junior Tennis (WJT) Team Championship.

“PTF has formed a new team in which all players hold foreign nationalities and the team will now leave on Saturday night for the event that is scheduled in Prostejov, Czech Republic, from August 7-12,” said a source while talking to ‘The News’.

The source added that the new team is comprised of Amir Mazari, Nabil Ali Qayyum, and Samir Zaman while their coach is Zain Nawab. It is to be noted that Pakistan’s team qualified for the finals for the first time since 1996 after recording wins in the Asia/Oceania Qualifying round in Kuching, Malaysia, in March this year. The team composed of Hamza Roman, Abubakar Talha, and Amir Khan Mazari registered wins against Hong Kong in the semifinal. The Asian teams which qualified for the finals were Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Pakistan.

PTF then applied for visas for the same team for the finals but Czech Republic rejected the visa applications of all the players and the coach for applying late.

“PTF then used all its sources at government and diplomatic level to get the visas but their every attempt failed, hence they found this solution,” said the source.

The source added that PTF also approached International Tennis Federation to get Czech Republic to reconsider its decision of rejecting visas but that effort too was unsuccessful.

“The management of PTF then ordered an inquiry to ascertain who was responsible for this failure in getting visas,” said the source.

When contacted, a local coach said that the new team is plausible as all players are in the PTF national ranking and participated in the trials but the coach (Zain Nawab) has no experience of leading any team at international level. “It is beyond comprehension why Zain was made the coach of the team despite his inexperience because a number of former and current Davis Cuppers were available for this duty,” said the coach.