Davis Cup Asia: Three wins in a row for Oman

2017-04-06 04:51:06

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily)

Oman upset its much higher-ranked rival Iraq 3-0 in a Pool B match to remain on top of the group and keep its chances alive for a shot at promotion to Group III.

Ranked No 122, Oman is seeded eighth in this edition, while Iraq, ranked No 106, is seeded second in the 11-team Group IV competition.

Oman's most-experienced player, Mohammed al Nabhani, led the team by example as he took just over an hour to outplay Iraq's Barakat Zainy in straight sets for a 1-0 lead.

The 31 year old's serve through the 6-1, 6-2 win held him in good stead as he won 66 per cent of his points on his first serve, a contrast to his rival, who had six double-faults.

Having played 60 Davis Cup ties, Nabhani's presence seems to have rubbed off positively on his younger teammate, Abdullah al Barwani, who was born in 2000, the year Nabhani made his Davis Cup debut.

Abdullah al Barwani

The 17 year old Barwani, who made his Davis Cup debut in 2014, has been in good form in Bahrain, having won all his matches.

On Wednesday, he beat Adel Mustafa al Saedi 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 40 minutes to give his team a 2-0 lead.

Oman's non-playing captain Siddiq al Hashmi did not take the risk of fielding a new doubles combination as he did against Singapore on Tuesday.

Hashmi opted for the tried and tested pair of Nabhani and Barwani against the Iraqi duo of Saedi and Zainy, and the Omani pair produced an emphatic 6-4, 6-2 victory in a match that lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

With three successive wins and an impressive 8-1 rubbers record, Oman is on top of Pool B, followed by Mongolia, which too has three wins, but has a 6-3 record.

Singapore is third with two wins (7-2), while Iraq is fourth with one win (3-6). Tajikistan (2-7) and Bangladesh (1-8) have failed to register any wins so far.

Oman's only slip-up yet was on Tuesday when Nabhani and Younis al Rawahi lost to Singapore's Roy Hobbs and Ha Yuan NG.

Oman next plays minnow Tajikistan on Thursday before concluding its pool engagements with a clash against

No 124-ranked Mongolia that is expected to determine the group topper.

The winner of Pool A will play off against the runner-up in Pool B and the winner of Pool B will play off against the runner-up in Pool A to determine which two nations will be promoted to Asia/Oceania Zone Group III in 2018.

Pool A comprises Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan, with the Saudis currently leading the table, followed by Cambodia.

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