Ali: We will miss Behroozian

Dubai: The UAE national team coach hopes his young squad relies on the three aspects of fitness, motivation and self-belief to stay put in Group III of the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup for another year.

"We need to recognise the fact that we are handicapped without Omar [Behroozian] this year. This is an ideal opportunity for the youngsters to step forward and prove themselves playing for the country," Zeeshan Ali, the UAE team coach, told Gulf News.

Behroozian is unavailable to play Davis Cup for the country for the first time in more than a decade due to a knee injury. In fact, the UAE's top player - many a time the hero of their Davis Cup exploits - is scheduled to undergo surgery early next month.

Strengths

"I am realistic about the fact that all the odds are stacked against the UAE this year. We are without Omar and ours is a young team with Mahmoud Nader playing as the number one player possibly for the first time in his career," Zeeshan Ali noted.

"But our youngsters need to get past this and play to their strengths. They are young and their fitness level should be much better. They need to believe in themselves and motivate each other to give of their best for the country," Zeeshan Ali stated.

Mahmoud Nader will be joined by juniors Hamad Abbas Al Janahi, who will be the number two player, and Faisal Bastaki and Khalid Al Hassani as the other playing members, while Mahmoud Khalifa will be the non-playing captain cum manager.

Schedule

The UAE will be joined in the Asia-Oceania Group III by Pakistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Vietnam and hosts Iran for the qualifiers in Tehran from April 9-13.

The squad is scheduled to leave for Iran on April 3 for a three-day acclimatisation camp in Karaj, a 45-minute drive from the venue.

As per the schedule, the eight teams will be divided into two pools of four with the top two nations getting promoted and the last two being relegated to Group IV for next year.

"Considering all this, our goal more than anything is to stay in Group III for another year," Zeeshan Ali said.

"We realise we need to be at the top of our fitness as it is going to be crucial when our players will be out there every single day for five days," the coach stated.

"Davis Cup is a team competition and expectations are high too. I can only hope our youngsters take on this as a challenge to go out there and give it their best shot," stated Zeeshan Ali.

Knee problem

Surgery for Omar

Omar Behroozian will undergo knee surgery on April 7. Behroozian, who consulted one of the top doctors in the capital earlier this month, has finally been cleared for surgery on his weak left knee. Behroozian was initially scheduled to travel with the UAE squad as the non-playing captain for their Davis Cup encounter in Tehran next month. But with the surgery now fixed for April 7, Behroozian will not be in a position to make the journey to Tehran. Last week's board meeting of Tennis Emirates decided to cover the costs of surgery for Behroozian.