The Qatari men’s tennis team began their campaign at the 2019 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III with 2-1 victory over their Malaysian counterparts on Wednesday. The event held in Singapore from June 26-29.
In the first singles match, Qatar’s Mousa Shannan edged past Christian Didier Chin 7-6 6-2 then in the second singles match, Mubarak Shannan defeated Shamiral Shahril Mohamed Adam Das 7-5 5-7 6-1.
In the doubles match, Qatar’s Rayane Alrami and Mousa Shannan went down fighting against Christian Didier Chin and Syed Mohamed Agil Syed Naguib 0-6 6-2 2-6.
In their second match on Thursday, the Qatari team will shake hands with Syrian counterparts who edged out Iran their first encounter on Wednesday.
2019 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III brings together Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Vietnam and Singapore.
Qatar pooled in group (A) alongside Iran, Syria, and Malaysia, while Group (B) includes Vietnam, Kuwait, Sri Lanka and hosts Singapore.
The Qatari delegation chaired by Ahmed Sultan Al Obaidly. Players, Mousa Shanan, Mubarak Shanan, Rayyan Alami, Rashed Nawaf and the team captain Sultan Khalfan in addition to the head coach Oliver Gross, fitness coach Luis Lobez and physiotherapist Alex.
As per the new format of the tournament, the winners of each group will secure their places in the 2020 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II while the runners up of each group will fight for the third spot in Group II.
The head coach Oliver Gross was satisfied by the result and the performance of his players against Malaysia and stressed: “all the matches are so important in our way to qualification to group II”.
Khalid Al Khalaifi, Chairman of National Teams Committee at the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation congratulated the players on their victory over Malaysia at the beginning of their campaign at Daivs Cup.
Al Khalaifi stressed that the victory would motivate the players to do more in the upcoming matches.
On the other side of the tournament, Kuwait defeated Singapore 2-1 while Vietnam edged past Sri Lanka.
June 26, 2019
