SI Yew Ming will lead a young team in next month’s Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III competition in Sri Lanka.
The other Davis Cup trainees are Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam (picture), Ahmad Deedat Razak, Nazim Khan and Chong Chia Hwa.
The youngest player in the squad is Ahmad Deedat, who turns 16 on June 18. The Selangor-born was picked after doing well in the recent Junior Davis Cup qualifiers.
Top juniors Khoo Er Yang, Assri Merzuki and Christian Lee were also called up for trials, which began on May 13, but the trio pulled out due to various reasons.
Pearljit Singh, who was not initially in the list, was allowed to attend training but did not make the final cut.
Davis Cup captain Deen Heshaam Tan Abdullah will name his four-member squad early next month.
“Except for Yew Ming, the others are below 21. The tournament will definitely give a good exposure to the young players,” said Deen Heshaam yesterday.
“Our aim, however, is to earn promotion to Group II next year. It will be tough but I believe my players can achieve the target in Sri Lanka.”
Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Lebanon, Myanmar, Oman, Vietnam and UAE will be split into two groups with the top two teams in the event earning promotion to Group II next year. The last two placed teams will be relegated to Group IV.
The Group III competition will be played on outdoor clay at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts in Colombo on June 15-18.
“We will be moving our training base to Jakarta on May 25. The 13-day camp will help my players adapt with the clay surface. We will leave to Sri Lanka on June 8,” said Deen Heshaam, who hails from Kuching, Sarawak.
Deen Heshaam confirmed that Yew Ming is the automatic choice for the event while the other trainees will need to fight for the other three slots in the team.
On why several top players were not short-listed for selection, Deen Heshaam said those interested should have submitted their requests.
“We posted a note on the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) website (www.ltam.org.my) regarding it,” he added.
Syed Aqil Syed Naguib, the last year’s National Hardcourt champion, alongside Ashaari Zainal and Abdul Hazli Zainuddin were among the players left out.
