Injured Aisam almost ruled out of Asian Tennis

Pakistan’s title hopes in next month’s Asian Tennis Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, have received a blow after their top player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi was almost ruled out of the event because of a shoulder injury he suffered while competing in the US Open qualifiers.

A Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) official informed ‘The News’ on Tuesday that Aisam is highly unlikely to play in the US$100,000 Asian Championship because of fitness reasons but added the player is to take a final decision after returning to home town Lahore later this week. “I don’t think Aisam-ul-Haq will be able to play in the Asian Championship because of a shoulder injury. ”His (Aisam-ul-Haq) absence will certainly be a setback for us,” said Pakistan Tennis Federation secretary Major (retd) Rashid Khan. Rashid said that Aisam-ul-Haq has informed the Pakistan Tennis Federation that he is returning home within the next couple of days and will take the final decision over the Tashkent assignment after consulting doctors in Lahore.

Aisam-ul-Haq, 27, got injured while featuring in the final qualifying round of the US Open. The Asian Championship is an important event for Aisam-ul-Haq as the winner of the singles event in both the men’s and women’s sections will get the wild card for next year’s Australian Open. While two men and two women from a country will get direct entry into the main draw, the rest have to negotiate the qualifying event that will be played on September 1 and 2.

Additional players may get into the main draw depending on the vacancies, as some of the leading players find it tough to fly down from the US Open, as the Asian Championship is played during the second week of the last Grand Slam of the year. The singles winner will get $7,200 and the runner-up $4,240.
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A huge blow for Pakistan. I just hope Aisam recovers fully, and that the PFF doesn't rush him back too quickly.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

We were going to win this!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!