Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone III:

Lankans lead in Group ‘A’

Anuradha ABEYSEKERA

Sri Lankan tennis stars made their second clean sweep at the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone III tournament when they beat Myanmar in all three matches in straight sets at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association(SLTA) courts yesterday.

Oshada Wijemanne comfortably won the first single against Phyo Min Thar 6-2, 6-1, did not receive any strong opposition from the Myanmar player. Harshana Godamanne defeated Nge Hnaung in the same fashion 6-4, 6-2 in the second single. Nge Hnaung scored the first point in the second set, but tamed by the Sri Lankan top seed who scored back to back points to win the set.

Though Myanmar doubles contenders, Zaw Zaw Latt and Phyo Min Thar played a competitive game against the Local pair Rajeev Rajapaksha and Harshana. Sri Lankan duo played an excellent doubles match to beat their opponents 6-4, 6-3. Rajeev and Harshana displayed an excellent combination and good understanding between them during the match which made their rivals impossible to cope with. They played some smooth and intelligent drop shots where the Myanmar players found difficult to play.

With the previous victory against Vietnam 3-0 Sri Lanka progressed to the top of group A with two points while keeping Kuwait in the second place with one point. It will be interesting to see when Sri Lanka meet the strong Kuwaiti team in today’s tie. Kuwait who registered a clean sweep against Myanmar in the previous day experienced mixed fortunes against Vietnam yesterday.

Kuwaiti won the initial set of the first single but went down to Vietnam in the following two sets 3-6, 0-6. They fought back strongly to defeat Vietnam in the other singles match after a close fight 6-2, 7-5. The doubles match between them will be played today.

In the group B, Malaysia defeated United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the doubles match 6-2, 6-2 yesterday to win the tie 2-1. They have won their first singles match against UAE on the previous day 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Oman made only one singles match while they lost the other match to Malaysia. Their doubles match will work off today.

Lebanon won the tie 2-1 against UAE with two straight set victories in both singles while they gave a walk over during the first set of the doubles match.

Yesterday the matches were delayed till afternoon due to the wet court conditions caused by the previous night rains. All matches were played on hard courts.

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Results:

Sri Lanka beat Myanmar 3-0.

Shadha Wijemanne(SL) beat Phyo Mi Thar (MYN) 6-2, 6-1.

Harshana Godamanne (SL) beat Nge Hnaung (MYN) 6-4, 6-2.

Rajeev Rajapaksa/Harshana Godamanne (SL) beat Zaw Zaw Latt/Phyo Min Thar (MYN) 6-4, 6-3.

Kuwait vs Vietnam

Do Min Quan (V) beat Ali Ghareeb (K) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Abdulla Maqdas (K) beat Hoang Thanh Trung (V) 6-2, 7-5.

Doubles to played today.

Oman vs Malaysia

Mohamed Al Nabhani (OM) beat Mohamed Nazim Mahmud Khan (MAL)(Rtd in second set) 6-1.

Ariez ElyaasDeen Heshaam (M) beat Khalid Al Nabhani (OM) 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles match to be played today.

Si Yen Ming/Ahamed Deedat (ML) beat Hamad Abbas Janhi (UAE) 6-2, 6-2.

Lebanon vs UAE

Karim Alayli (LEB) beat Faizal Bastaki (UAE) 6-1, 6-1.

Bassam Beidas (LEB) beat Khalid Al Hossani (UAE) 6-0, 6-2.

Faaizal Bastaki/Khaled Al Hossani (UAE) w/o from Bassam Beidas/Giovani Samaha (LEB) 4-3.

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