Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone III:

Sri Lanka makes a clean sweep

Anuradha Abeysekera

Sri Lanka’s second seed Oshada Wijemanne got off to a fine start when he defeated the Vietnam opponent Le Quoc Khanh in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the opening match of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone III tournament at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts yesterday. Local contenders won all three matches against the Vietnam team.

Sri Lanka’s number one Harshana Godamanne grabbed the second victory for the country when he out pointed Hoang Thanh Trung (Vietnam) 6-3, 6-4 in the following single match.

The third victory for the host country was registered in the doubles when Harshana and Rajeevv Rajapaksha overcame the Vietnam rivals Ngo Quang Huy and Le Quoc Khanh 6-1, 6-7, 7-5.

Oshada took the advantage in his height and for superb serves where his rival Le Quoc Khanh struggled to receive. Le Quoc tried to play a smooth sensible game but did not succeed with Oshada’s fierce attack in the first single.

Harshana comfortably beat Hoang Thanh in the first set 6-1 but struggled to open the account in the beginning of the second set where the Vietnam player took the lead 3-0. Harshana used his skills and experience to make inroads to the game and fought back to win the match in straight sets.

Sri Lankan doubles pair found no difficulty to win the first set 6-1, but went down to the Vietnamese pair in the second set 6-7. Vietnam players played an attacking game and were leading 3-2. Though Local duo tied the score 5-5 Vietnam won the second set in the end. Vietnam performed well in the beginning of the third set and were in the leading 3-0. Sri Lanka reduced the gap 3-2 but soon the rivals made it 5-3. Again local players equalled the score 5-5 and finished the game 7-5 to win the doubles against Vietnam.

In another group A tie between Kuwait and Myanmar Kuwait won all three matches in straight sets. United Arab Emirates registered two straight victories over Malaysia in both single matches in a group B tie while Lebanon defeated Oman in the same format in the two single matches.

The two Double matches between UAE vs Malaysia and Oman vs Lebanon are to be played today.

Chief Selector of the Sri Lankan Tennis ordered a journalist to leave the SLTA premises. He also ordered not to provide the results to the particular news paper which he represents. SLTA must take proper action to ensure that no journalist should be harassed by their officials.

Results:

Sri Lanka beat Vietnam

Oshada Wijemanne beat Le Quoc Khanh, 6-3, 6-4

Harshana Godammana beat Hoang Thanh Trung, 6-1, 6-4

Harshana Godammana/Rajeev Rajapakee beat Ngo Quang Huy/Le Quoc Khanh, 6-1, 6-7(4), 7-5

UAE vs Malaysia

Hamad Abbas Janahi beat Se Yen Ming 3-6, 6-2, 6-3

Omar Bahrouzyan Awadhi beat Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam 6-3, 6-76(4), 6-2

Kuwait vs. Myanmar

Mohammad Ghareeb beat. Zaw Zaw Latt, 6-2, 6-2

Abdullah Maqdas beat Phyo Min Thar 6-1 6-0

Mohammad Ghareeb/Abdullah Maqdas beat Nge Hnaung/Zaw Zaw Latt 6-1, 6-0

Oman vs. Lebanon

Karim Alayli beat Mohammed Al Nabhani 6-1, 7-5

Bassam Beidas beat Khalid Al Nabhani 6-2, 6-1