Bahrainis claim Davis Cup victory

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain defeated Bhutan 2-1 yesterday in their concluding preliminary round match-up of the Asia/Oceania Group V competition in the 2023 Davis Cup.

Meanwhile, Qatar, Mongolia and Laos joined Myanmar in the play-off round and will today play for promotion to Group IV for next year’s Davis Cup competition.

Qatar advanced from Pool B, Mongolia from Pool C and Laos from Pool D.

They all secured their places following the competition of the preliminaries yesterday, while Myanmar had already claimed their spot after topping Pool A.

In today’s play-offs, Qatar meet Mongolia and Laos take on Myanmar.

The Davis Cup zonal event is currently being hosted in the Kingdom, with matches taking place at the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) hard courts in Isa Town.

In Bahrain’s only win in Pool A, Shadi Kallel narrowly lost to Tenzin Singye Dorji 5-7, 2-6 in the opening singles contest, but then Elyas Abdulnabi levelled it for the Bahrainis with a 7-5, 6-4 triumph over Tandin Wangchuk.

The comeback was then completed in the doubles clash, where Elyas and Hasan Abdulnabi defeated Bhutan’s Thinley Norbu and Wangchuk 6-3, 6-0.

In Pool B, Qatar claimed a 3-0 win over Yemen to make it through to the play-offs, while Mongolia followed suit in Pool C with a 2-1 win over Bangladesh yesterday.

In Pool D, which was the only group with four squads, Laos secured their berth in the play-off after finishing the preliminaries with a perfect 3-0 sweep of their opponents.

They completed their run with a 2-1 triumph over Brunei yesterday, adding to their 3-0 wins against Tajikistan and Macau.

Thirteen men’s national teams from across the continent are participating in the competition. Today is the concluding day of play.

The two winners from the play-offs will be promoted to Group IV for next year’s Davis Cup competition.