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| Friday, 16 April 2004 |
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Outstanding tennis played by Lankans in Jordan - Pepino 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, Tukemenistan and Brueni. (Group B) Sri Lanka, Kyrgistan, Bangladesh, Iraq and Myanmar. "It 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." US-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 Emmanual 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 the occasion superbly and thrived under pressure to win 6/1, 6/1. Pepino described the performance as world class." |
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