New Zealand’s Davis Cup tennis team have controversially been awarded victory over Pakistan because of an unplayable surface in Myanmar, despite losing the opening singles match.
ITF referee Asitha Attygalla, from Sri Lanka, called the contest off on Friday during the second singles match, between Dan King-Turner and Aisam Qureshi, and gave the result to New Zealand because of the condition of the court.
Although Myanmar is a neutral venue, the decision punishes Pakistan, who are hosts.
Earlier Pakistan’s Aqeel Khan had beaten Artem Sitak 7-5 3-6 6-2 7-5 in extreme heat.
There was a hole by the baseline which New Zealand team captain Alistair Hunt said was about an inch deep and half a foot wide.
The grass courts at the Pun Hlaing Golf and Country Club had also displayed difficult bounce as well as unreliable footing throughout the week.
“The courts have been a disaster from the start,” said Hunt.
“We’ve changed each grass court and then there was some word we might change to hard court which the ITF said no to. The referee has made a brave decision.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in 25 years of Davis Cup. It was dangerous and someone was going to hurt themselves. We weren’t the ones complaining. It was totally the referee’s decision.”
The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) has labelled the referee’s decision “disastrous and wrong on many levels”.
Pakistan have played their home ties at neutral venues since 2010, following security fears after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in 2009.
“It’s a disaster,” PTF president Kaleem Imam told The Express Tribune.
“We did everything we could. We didn’t have enough funds but we managed to hold the tie in Myanmar so that the team could gain the home advantage it was entitled to.”
New Zealand will now take on either Thailand or Philippines in the final of Asia/Oceania Group II in September.