Tennis: Oman launch Davis Cup campaign in style

Sports Monday 29/January/2018 19:06 PM
By: Times News Service
Tennis: Oman launch Davis Cup campaign in style

Muscat: A dominant display saw against Bangladesh saw Oman launch their campaign in the 2018 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV competition with a comprehensive 3-0 victory at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Monday.
On a day when the UAE, Singapore and Turkmenistan also recorded similar 3-0 victories, hosts Oman were given a rousing start in Pool A by their most experienced Davis Cup player Mohammed Al Nahbani.
The Sultanate’s star, who returned from a training camp in France along with other members of Oman team, took just 55 minutes to humble Bangladesh’s Sree-Amol Roy for a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
Young Abdullah Al Barwani then made it 2-0 for Oman by overcoming Dipu Lal 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.
In the doubles rubber, Mohammed Al Nabhani and Younis Al Rawahi defeated Ranjan Ram and Mohammed Rana 6-1, 6-3 to complete a 3-0 victory.
Oman team’s non-playing captain Siddique Al Hashmi said: “We could not have asked for a better start in the competition. Definitely we are very pleased with our dominant performance against Bangladesh.”
“Mohammed Al Nabhani gave us a great start. He showed his experience in the victory against Roy,” he added.
“In the second singles, we had some tense moments as Abdullah Al Barwani suffered a cramp after winning the first set 6-0 and lost the second set. But he did well in the third set to give us the lead.”
“In the doubles, Younis Al Rawahi played really well. He combined well with Mohammed Al Nabhani to defeat the Bangladesh team.”
In their next Pool A match-up, Oman will square off against Iraq on Tuesday. Iraq defeated Myanmar 2-1 on Monday.
Siddiq Al Hashmi said: “Iraq are a very good team. Our players have to be at their best to get a good result. But I am sure the boys will be ready for the challenge tomorrow.”
UAE too good for Kyrgyzstan
In another Pool A match, the UAE cruised to a 3-0 victory against Kyrgyzstan.
Abdulrahman Al Janahi defeated Kirill Kistanov 6-1, 6-0 to give the UAE lead against Kyrgyzstan. Omar Al Awadhi then defeated Evgeniy Babak 6-1, 6-0 to make it 2-0.
Fares Al Janahi and Abdulrahman Al Janahi completed UAE’s 3-0 win with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Evgeniy Babak and Georgy Kotlyarevsky in the doubles rubber.
UAE and Turkmenistan also scored 3-0 victories against Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
In Pool B, Turkmenistan completely dominated Tajikistan winning their tie without conceding a single game in all three rubbers.
In the first singles, Atlymyrat Gurbanov defeated Firuz Mukhidinov 6-0, 6-0 and in the second singles, Yuriy Rogusskiy defeated Firdavs Odinaev by a same 6-0, 6-0 margin.
In the doubles rubber too, Atlymyrat Gurbanov and Yuriy Rogusskiy scored a 6-0, 6-0 win against Firuz Mukhidinov and Firdavs Odinaev.
The 12 participating teams are vying for the two promotional places.
After the group stage matches, the winners of Pool A will play-off against the runners-up in Pool B and the winners of Pool B will play-off against the runners-up in Pool A to determine which two nations will be promoted to Asia/Oceania Zone Group III in 2019.

Pool A results:

Oman bt Bangladesh 3-0
Mohammed Al Nabhani bt Sree-Amol Roy 6-0, 6-0.
Abdullah Al Barwani bt Dipu Lal 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.
Younis Al Rawahi/Mohammed Al Nabbhani bt Ranjan Ram/Mohammed Rana 6-1, 6-3.
UAE bt Kyrgyzstan (3-0)
Abdulrahman Al Janahi bt Kirill Kistanov 6-1, 6-0.
Omar Al Awadhi bt Evgeniy Babak 6-1, 6-0.
Fares Al Janahi/Abdulrahman Al Janahi bt Evgeniy Babak/Georgy Kotlyarevsky 6-2, 6-3.
Iraq bt Myanmar 2-1
Akram Abdalkarem Al Saady bt Tin Myo Wai 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Ali Khairi Hashim Al Mayahi lost to Aung Myo Thant 6-3, 6-7 (5), 5-7.
Akram Abdalkarem Al Saady/Adel Mustafa Al Saedi bt Zaw San Oo/Tin Myo Wai 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Pool B results:
Turkmenistan bt Tajikistan 3-0
Atlymyrat Gurbanov bt Firuz Mukhidinov 6-0, 6-0.
Yuriy Rogusskiy bt Firdavs Odinaev 6-0, 6-0.
Atlymyrat Gurbanov/Yuriy Rogusskiy bt Firuz Mukhidinov/Firdavs Odinaev 6-0, 6-0.
Singapore bt Guam 3-0
Roy Hobbs bt Christopher Cajigan 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Shaheed Alam bt Daniel Llarenas 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Yuan-Xiong Hui/Hao Yuan Ng bt Mason Caldwell/Jean Pierre Huynh 6-3, 6-2.