Dubai: The UAE rely on a combination of youth and experience as they travel to Sri Lanka for their Asia-Oceania Group III Davis Cup tie later this month.
Nine teams, including the UAE, will be competing at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association’s clay courts in Colombo from July 17-22. The top two teams will be promoted to Group II, while the last two teams will be relegated to Group IV during the 2018 season.
The nine teams competing in Group III include Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pacific Oceania, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan and the UAE.
The UAE, who have been training on the clay courts of Paris for the past two weeks now, will once again rely on the experience of Omar Bahroozian along with Hamad Abbas Al Janahi, Fahad Al Janahi and Abdul Rahman Al Janahi. Mahmoud Khalifa Al Baloushi will be the non-playing captain.
As per the playing format, nine teams will be divided into two groups for a round-robin competition. At the end of this, the winner of Pool A will play the runner-up from Pool B and the winner of Pool B will play the runner-up from Pool A with the winners getting a promotion into Group II for the following year.
For the relegation of two teams, the third-placed from Pool A will play the fifth-placed from Pool B, while the fourth-placed teams from both pools will clash to decide on the two teams getting relegated for 2018.
“We had to put our best squad forward and aim for at least three wins so that we can stay put in Group III for another season,” Slah Bramly, Technical Secretary at the UAE Tennis Association told Gulf News.
“Omar is one of the most experienced players not just in the UAE, but in the entire region. we also have juniors such as Abdul Rahman and Fahad, while Faris Al Janahi will also accompany the squad so that he gets a feel of an overseas competition,” Bramly added.
The squad will return from France on July 6 and then leave for Colombo on July 9 for a short training camp at the Queen’s Club in the Sri Lankan capital accompanied by non-playing captain Al Baloushi, coach Hisham Bramly and former player Mahmoud Nader Al Baloushi. The captains’ meeting will be held on July 16 and preliminary round play will get under way the following day.
“The groups will be formed at a later date depending on each nations’ rankings with one pool consisting of four teams while the other will have five teams. We will need at least two to three wins to ensure we stay back in Group III till our juniors start developing through experience,” Bramly noted.
FACTBOX
Event: Asia-Oceania Group III Davis Cup
Teams: Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pacific Oceania, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, UAE
Dates: July 17-22
Venue: Sri Lanka Tennis Association, Colombo
Surface: Clay court.
