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| Friday, 16 April 2004 |
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Tennis earns promotion in grand style Sri Lanka won promotion to Group Three of the Davis Cup in grand style, finishing the only unbeaten team in the four-day Asia/Oceania Group 4 tournament in Amman, Jordan, this week. The four-member team, under the guidance of famous Indian coach Enrico Pepino, dropped only one match whilst overwhelming Bangladesh, Iraq and Kyrgistan, all by three matches to nil, and Myanmar, 2/1. Eleven countries competed for two places in next year's Group Three competition. Second seed Sri Lanka, finishing on top of Group B, took one slot while Group A leaders, Saudi Arabia, upset top seed UAE to become the other qualifier. The 11 countries: (Group A) UAE, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkmenistan and Brunei. (Group B) Sri Lanka, Kyrgistan, Bangladesh, Iraq and Myanmar. "t was a thoroughly professional performance by our players. They were determined not to leave anything to chance and played each point as if promotion depended on it, which was why we ended up the only unbeaten team of the tournament. No one can say we didn't deserve the promotion,'' said Irshad Othman, the team manager. ''The team spirit on and off the court was extraordinary.'' U.S.-based Renouk Wijemanne produced outstanding tennis to win all his matches, as did the experienced doubles pair of Rajiv Rajapakse and Rohan de Silva. 22-year-old Wijemanne won his four matches in straight sets, including two love sets. The only blemish on Sri Lanka's slate was the defeat of Royal College's Franklin Emmanuel at the hands of Myanmar's Maw Tu _ after the 16-year-old had won the first set 6/3 and held a 4/1 lead in the next. ''With victory within his grasp, Franklin became too cautious, and in trying to defend the advantage gained, he actually lost it. He should've continued with his earlier boldness, '' said Othman. The tie that helped Sri Lanka's clinch promotion was against Myanmar, who last year finished third, and Sri Lanka sixth, in the Group 4 Davis Cup tournament in Colombo. ''We always looked at Myanmar as our chief rival _ remembering how well they performed last year. Before we met on court, we were both unbeaten and then were 1/1 after the singles. So it was all down to the doubles,'' said Othman. '' Rajiv (Rajapakse) and Rohan (de Silva) rose to occasion superbly and thrived under pressure to win 6/1, 6/1. Pepino described the performance as world class. '' He believed the 10-day training session in Bombay, en route to Jordan, was a decisive factor. ''They practiced against some of the best Indian national player and arrived in Jordan sharper, more confident and closer-knit by ten days of togetherness,'' said Othman. He paid tribute to the inspiring guidance of Pepino, one-time coach to India's Grand Slam winners Mahesh Bhupathy and Leander Paes. ''Pepino of course is a world-class coach and there's no denying he made a significant contribution to the team. But then the way the players responded to him cannot be overstated. Clearly they played at a level higher than they have ever done before,'' said Othman. ''And having an ex Davis Cup player Lasantha Fernando as non-playing captain proved helpful.'' RESULTS: Beat Bangladesh 3/0. Singles: Renouk Wijemanne bt. Sri Raj, 6/3,6/1; Franklin Emmanuel bt. Shiblal, 6/0, 6/4. Doubles: Rajiv Rajapakse/Rohan de Silva bt. Alamgir/Shiblal, 7/6,7/5. Beat Iraq, 3/0. Singles: Renouk Wijemanne bt. Nasir, 6/1, 6/0; Franklin Emmanuel bt. Hyder 6/0, 6/1. Doubles: Rajiv Rajapakse/Rohan de Silva bt. Hyder/Hussein, 6/4,6/2. Beat Myanmar, 2/1 Singles: Renouk Wijemanne bt. Latt Zaw Zaw, 6/4, 6/3. Franklin Emmanuel lost to Maw Tu, 6/3, 4/6, 4/6. Doubles: Rajiv Rajapakse/Rohan de Silva bt. Zaw Zaw/Maw Tu, 6/1, 6/1. Beat Kyrgistan, 3/0 Singles: Renouk Wijemanne bt. Temir Akkaziev, 6/0, 6/3. Franklin Emmanuel bt. Segey Nil 6/4, 6/2. Doubles: Rajapakse/de Silva bt. Akkaziev/Nil, 6/2, 6/0. |
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