THE national Davis Cup team failed to achieve their target of earning promotion from Group III after losing 2-1 to Sri Lanka in the Asia/Oceania tie in Colombo on Saturday.
Oshada Wijemanne earned the opening point for Sri Lanka with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over National No 1 Si Yew Meng before Harshana Godamanna hammered Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam 6-1, 6-2 to give the hostsan unassailable 2-0 lead.
Yew Meng-Ahmad Deedat Abdul Razak then reduced the deficit by overcoming Rajeev Rajapakse-Thangarajah Dineshkanthan 6-4, 6-2 in the doubles.
Joining Sri Lanka into Group II next year will be Lebanon, who thrashed Vietnam 3-0 on Saturday.
Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) executive secretary Ibrahim Abu Bakar was not disappointed despite the team’s failure to achieve their target.
“Our players played their hearts out in every tie. The exposure in Sri Lanka has definitely helped the players gain some match experience,” said Ibrahim yesterday.
The tennis fraternity were expecting more from the Davis Cup players after undergoing systematic training in Barcelona and Jakarta before the Davis Cup.
