Oman's preparations for the Davis Cup clash in Sri Lanka have been hampered by an outbreak of food poisoning, according to the team's captain Siddiq al Hashmi. Hashmi said three other teams staying at the Ceylon Continental Hotel in Colombo have also been affected by the illness ahead of the Asia-Oceania Zone Group III competition, which begins in the Sri Lankan capital on Wednesday. Apart from Oman and host Sri Lanka, the other participating teams are Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar, UAE and Vietnam.
“We are facing a tough time here,” Hashmi told Muscat Daily on the phone from Colombo. “We arrived in Sri Lanka a week before the tournament to get acclimatised to the conditions, but unfortunately things have gone wrong. Apart from me, both our important players - the Nabhani brothers Khalid and Mohammed - have fallen sick due to the food here.”
According to Hashmi, the other two members of the team - Abdullah al Balushi and Khalid al Barwani, who joined the team three days later - are fine, having been cautioned about the food upon their arrival on Saturday. “We advised both Abdullah and Khalid not to eat at the hotel where we are staying as it may affect them as well,” said Hashmi.
It's not only the Omani players who are suffering, said Hashmi. Players from Kuwait, Lebanon and the UAE have also fallen sick. Officials from the countries with ill players have now lodged a formal complaint against the organisers of the tournament. All of the visiting teams are staying at the same hotel, while the Sri Lankan players are staying elsewhere.
Hashmi said, “Like Oman, teams from the other Arabian countries also came here well in advance to get used to the situation. Along with three Kuwaiti players, their coach has also fallen sick. I have been in Sri Lanka three times before but this is the first time I am facing something like this. We have lodged an official complaint with the organisers.”
The Oman captain said the players are still recovering as they continue to prepare for the tournament.
“I took Khalid to a local hospital on Monday. He along with Mohammed is still recovering. We are hoping everything will be fine soon and the organisers will take appropriate action to sort out the issue,” he said.
The draw for the clay court tournament will take place on Tuesday with the eight nations set to compete in a round-robin format in two pools. The top two nations from each pool will progress to the promotion group. The winner and runner-up from this group will earn promotion into the Asia-Oceania Zone Group II for 2012. The bottom two nations in each pool will slip into the relegation group, from which the last two teams will be relegated to Group IV. - source www.theweek.co.om
