Monday 30 April 2012

Malaysia remain in Group III

MALAYSIA finished third in the Asia/Oceania Davis Cup Group III competition, which concluded on Sunday, in Tehran The team, led by Si Yew Ming, who finished second in Group A, recorded one win and two losses in the final. Yew Ming and Assri Merzuki won their singles matches to help Malaysia edge Iran 2-1 in their final tie on Sunday. Yew Ming, 33, emerged as Malaysia’s top performer with four wins from five matches while compatriots Assri, Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam and Syed Agil Syed Naguib were erratic in Tehran. Final positions 1 Syria (promoted), 2 Kuwait (promoted), 3 Malaysia, 4 Iran, 5 Vietnam, 6 Oman, 7 Bangladesh (relegated), 8 Kyrgyzstan (relegated) Malaysia 2 Iran 1 (Si Yew Ming bt Morteza Moazzam 6-2, 6-3; Assri Merzuki bt Kiarash Souri 6-4, 6-2; Ariez Deen Heshaam-Syed Aqil Syed Naguib lost to Mohsen Hossein Zade-Morteza Moazzam 6-3, 3-6, 4-6)

Sunday 29 April 2012

Malaysia go down too tamely

EHRAN, IRAN: Syria and Kuwait, the two teams that have topped their respective Pools during the week have earned a victory apiece in the first day of the promotion play-off at the Enghelab Sport Complex in Tehran. In one of the two ties of the day, Syria defeated the hosts Iran in a much contested clash. The Syrians dropped their first rubber of the week and had to give their best in order to overcome the Iranian pressure. The decisive point was earned by Syria’s Marc Abdelnour in a hardly fought game in which he defeated Iran’s Shahin Khaledan 61 67(4) 62. Syria stands now in the second position of the play-off table with one more tie to play in the final day of the event on Sunday. In the other tie, Kuwait, the other unbeaten team during the week has earned yet another win against Malaysia 2-1. As it happened to Syria, the Kuwaitis dropped a rubber for the first time in the week. Despite the win in the doubles rubber, the Malysians never managed to take control of the tie as Kuwait started dominating both singles rubber from the very beginning. The scores 61 63 and 61 61 are a clear evidence of Kuwait’s superiority in this tie. However, the doubles rubber saw the exactly opposed scenario and the Malaysians achieved a comprehensive 62 61 win. Kuwait are now at the top of the play-off table tied with Syria in victories but with a better sets and games record. In the relegation play-off, Oman beat Kyrgyzstan 3-0 and are now at the top of the table to avoid relegation. In the other relegation play-off tie, Vietnam beat Bangladesh 2-1 and are now second in the table. Sunday will see the clash between the best two teams of this event Syria and Kuwait. RESULTS Kuwait 3 Malaysia 0 (Mohammad Ghareeb bt Assri Merzuki 6-1, 6-3; Abdullah Moqdas bt Ariez Deen Heshaam 6-1, 6-1; Mohammed Abdal-Naser Al Obaidly bt Syed Aqil Syed Naguib-Si Yew Ming 6-2, 6-1). * dumbfounding that the Davis Cup captain did not name a more-experienced Yew Ming for singles in this crucial tie.

Saturday 28 April 2012

B'desh suffer 3rd consecutive defeat in Davis Cup

Visiting Bangladesh suffered the 3rd consecutive defeat in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group-3 tennis losing to Malaysia by straight 0-3 match in the Iranian capital Tehran Friday, reports UNB. Bangladesh, which also conceded straight 0-3 defeat against Syria and Oman in first two matches, will have to play in the relegation round from today (Saturday) for their existence in the Group-3 of the Davis Cup. In the day's match, Ranjan Ram suffered 3-6, 1-6 defeat in the first singles and Amol Roy conceded 6-4, 5-7, 4-6 defeat in the second singles against their Malaysian rivals. In the doubles, Ranjan Ram pairing Henry Pritol Mondal conceded 2-6, 1-6 game defeat to their Malaysian counterpart.

Yew Ming leads Malaysia to second stage

MALAYSIA have reached the second stage of the Asia/Oceania Davis Cup Group III competition, which started on Wednesday, after recording two victories from three Group A ties in Tehran The team, led by Si Yew Ming, started their campaign by edging Oman 2-1 on Wednesday before going down 3-0 to Syria, a day later. In Friday’s deciding tie, Malaysia thrashed Bangladesh 3-0 to secure second spot, behind Group A champions Syria. Yew Ming was Malaysia’s best performer in the group stage with two wins from three matches. Malaysia, Syria along with Group B champions Kuwait and runners-up Iran were involved in the second stage late yesterday. The top two teams from the second stage will earn promotion to Group II next year. The national team, however, will need to raise their level of play if they hope of making a grade. RESULTS Malaysia 2 Oman 1 (Si Yew Ming bt Mohd Al Nabhani 6-4, 2-6, 6-3; Assri Merzuki bt Khalid Al Nabhani 6-4, 6-4; Ariez Deen Heshaam- Syed Agil Syed Naguib lost to Khalid Al Nabhani- Mohd Al Nabhani 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 3-6). Malaysia 0 Syria 3 (Si Yew Ming lost to Issam Al Tawil 2-6, 1-6; Assri Merzuki lost to Marc Abdulnour 1-6, 0-6; Ariez Deen Heshaam- Assri Merzuki lost to Amer Naow-Majdi Salim 1-6, 4-6). Malaysia 3 Bangladesh 0 (Si Yew Ming bt Ranjan Ram 6-3, 6-1; Ariez Deen Heshaam bt Sree Amol Roy 4-6, 7-5, 6-4; Assri Merzuki- Syed Agil Syed Naguib bt Prithul Mondal-Ranjan Ram 6-3, 6-2)

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Oman face Malaysia in Davis Cup

MUSCAT — Oman will face Malaysia in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group III Davis Cup tournament to be played in Tehran today, the draws for which were held yesterday. Besides Oman, the other seven teams vying for top honours are Bangladesh, Iran, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Syria and Vietnam. The teams have been divided into two groups and after a round-robin contest, the top two from each group will progress to a new ‘promotion’ pool. Oman has been placed along with Malaysia, Syria and Bangladesh. Iran, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam comprises the other group. In a friendly match against Vietnam yesterday, Oman’s Khalid al Nabhani and Mohammed al Nabhani won 6-1 and 6-4 respectively against their Vietnamese opponents. The last two teams in the competition here will get relegated to Group IV.

Visa denial of Davis Cup player by Iran irks Bangladesh

(Reuters) - Bangladesh's tennis authorities on Sunday said they will lodge a complaint against Iran after one of their players was denied a visa for a Davis Cup tie. A four-member Bangladesh team left Dhaka for Tehran on Sunday to participate in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone-III, to be held in the Iranian capital from April 25 to 28. Bangladesh said they applied for visas for four players and a non-playing captain for the competition, but the Iranian embassy in Dhaka issued visa only for three players - Amal Roy, Henry Prethul and Ranjan Ram. Bangladesh' Dipu Lal was denied a visa for reasons unknown to the Bangladesh authorities. "We had contacted the Iranian embassy several times to know why he was not given visa, but did not get any answer," Shahriar Alam, the president of the Bangladesh Tennis Federation told reporters. Local media speculated Dipu was not granted a visa as his elder brother Shibu Lal, also a tennis player, is a U.S. citizen. The ITF punished Bangladesh in 2010 after an Israeli player was denied a visa for an age-group tournament in Dhaka in February that year. Bangladesh, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, had been fined $2,500 and Bangladesh's right to host two ITF tournaments was cut to one for the visa denial. "If we can be punished for not granting a visa to an Israeli player, I think Iran also should be penalised for doing the same thing with us," said Shahriar. (Reporting by Azad Majumder; editing by Martyn Herman for any query please call +8801817030827 or email iashayaan@gmail.com)

Monday 9 April 2012

Yew Ming leads Davis Cup team

SI Yew Ming will lead the national Davis Cup team at the Asia/Oceania Group III tournament in Tehran, Iran on April 25-28.
Former national champion Syeg Aqil Syed Naguib, Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam and Assri Merzuki and captain Deen Heshaam Tan Abdullah make-up the team.
Yew Ming and Ariez are the two surviving members of last year’s team, which failed to earn promotion from Group III.

Details (www.daviscup.com)

- Dates: 25-28 April
- Venue: Enghelab Sport Complex
- Location: Tehran, Iran
- Surface: Outdoor clay
- Ball: Prince
- Capacity: 2,000 in Centre Court
- Start time: 10:00 hrs
- Ticket prices: Free entry


Format

- Round-robin: Eight nations in two pools.

- Promotion: Top two nations in each pool progress to a new 'promotion' pool. Top two nations in this pool are promoted to Asia/Oceania Zone Group II for 2013.

- Relegation: Bottom two nations in each pool are placed in a new 'relegation' pool. Bottom two nations in this pool are relegated to Asia/Oceania Zone Group IV for 2013.


TEAM NOMINATIONS

- Bangladesh: Sree Amol Roy, Ranjan Ram, Henry Prithul Mondol, Md Alamgir Hossain, Sk. Moinuddin Walliullah Jhelun (captain)

- Iran: Shahin Khaledan, Mohsen Hosseinzadeh, Kiarash Souri, Morteza Moazam, Mostafa Saleh (captain)

- Kuwait: Abdullah Maqdas, Mohammed Ghareeb, Ali Ghareeb, Mohammed Abdal, Abdul Redha A H Alshatti (captain)

- Kyrgyzstan: Daniiar Duldaev, Georgii Kotliarevskii, Evgenii Babak, Marat Tenizbaev (captain)

- Malaysia: Ariez Elyas Deen Heesham, Si Yen Ming, Assri Merzuki, Syed Agil Syed Naguib, Deen Heshaam Tan Abdullah (captain)

- Oman: Mohammed Al Nabhani, Khalid Al Nabhani, Saleh Al Zadjali, Siddiq Al Hashmi (captain)

- Syria: Marc Abdelnour, Issam Tawil, Majdi Salim, Amer Naow, Feras Dahbos (captain)

- Vietnam: Ly Hoang Nam, Ho Huyn Dan Mach, Nguyen Hoang Thien, Tran Hoang Anh Khoa, Tran Duc Quynh (captain)

Hao Sheng bags double in U-14 tournament

GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia’s Koay Hao Sheng bagged a grand double in last month's Se­cond Penang-Asian Tennis Fede­ration (ATF) Under-14 tennis championships at the Penang Sports Club courts.
The 14-year-old Form Two student of SMK Derma in Kangar, who is ranked ninth in the ATF Series, lived up to expectations by powering his way to the boys’ singles and doubles crown.
He first lived up to his top billing by ousting Taiwan’s Yu Hua-Chen 6-3, 6-3 in the singles final before teaming up with Singaporean Sherwin Foo to defeat Mohd Talhah Rahizam-Sheikh Ameer Shikh Ahmad 6-2, 6-2 for the doubles title.

Results (All finals)
Under-14
Boys
Singles: Koay Hao Sheng (Mas) bt Yu Hua-Chen (Tpe) 6-3, 6-3.
Doubles: Koay Hao Sheng-Sherwin Foo (Mas-Sin) bt Mohd Talhah Rahizam-Sheikh Ameer Shikh Ahmad (Mas) 6-2, 6-2.

Girls
Singles: Cho I-Hsuan (Tpe) bt Shevita Aulana (Ina) 6-0, 6-2.
Doubles: K. Balasubramaniam-Shevita Aulana (Ind-Ina) bt Shamira Azzahra-Irania Shafira (Ina) 6-4, 6-3.