India has taken its overall record in the Davis Cup against Pakistan to 8-0
\nislamabad
\nIndia thumped Pakistan to win the World Group I playoff tie in the Davis Cup\u2019s doubles category in Islamabad on Sunday.
\nThe Men in Blue, courtesy of Saketh Myneni and Yuki Myneni, emerged victorious after beating the national side\u2019s pair of Aqeel Khan and Muzammil Murtaza 3-0 with 6-2, 6(7)-6(5).
\nEarlier on Saturday in the singles, Khan lost in straight sets, 7-5 6-3, against Sriram Balaji while Ramkumar Ramanathan defeated Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-0 to provide his side with a bright start.
\n\u201cThis will go down as a special win for me given we are in Pakistan. It is not easy to win away. Aisam slowed down the game while serving. It was not easy but I was all pumped up,\u201d Ramanathan stated after a win over Aisam.
\nThe last tie between the two countries took place in neutral Kazakhstan in 2014 with India winning 4-0.
\n\u201cThe Indian team just reaching Pakistan is already a win for me,\u201d Aisam had said earlier.
\n\u201cI\u2019m happy and proud to be a part of it \u2014 that tennis might play a role in mending the ties with India,\u201d he noted.
\nMeanwhile, Indian captain Zeeshan Ali, whose father was part of the 1964 team, described coming to Pakistan as \u201cemotional\u201d.
\n\u201cThe last time India played against Pakistan 60 years ago my father was on the team and he played three of the matches which he won,\u201d Ali said.
\n\u201cFor me to be back here in Pakistan as captain of the Indian team is an emotional moment\u201d, he added expressing hope that the tie would prove positive for the sport of tennis.
\n\u201cIf we can help in any way to spread good friendship and the game of tennis then we would have achieved our goal,\u201d he concluded.
\nFrance qualify for Davis Cup group stage
\nFrance booked their place in the group stages of the Davis Cup after completing a 4-0 win over Taiwan in Taipei on Sunday. Already leading 2-0 from Saturday\u2019s singles, France secured their passage when Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin came back from a set down to beat Yu Hsiou Hsu and Jason Jung 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7\/1). \u201cWe were perhaps a little timid at the start,\u201d said Roger-Vasselin. \u201cWe stayed calm. We knew our level of play was going to change. We had to keep our nerve.\u201d Quentin Halys rounded off the French victory with a 6-3, 7-6 (7\/3) win over Chun Hsin Tseng. Serbia, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Brazil, USA and holders Canada also qualified over the weekend with another four ties still to be decided. Defending champions Italy and last year\u2019s runners-up Australia, as well as Britain and Spain have advanced automatically to the finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
India has taken its overall record in the Davis Cup against Pakistan to 8-0 islamabad India thumped Pakistan to win the World Group I playoff tie in the Davis Cup\u2019s doubles category in Islamabad on Sunday. The Men in Blue, courtesy of Saketh Myneni and Yuki Myneni, emerged victorious after beating the national side\u2019s pair […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-385358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n