BAHRAIN lost to Myanmar 2-1 yesterday for their second consecutive defeat in Group Four of the 2017 Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone at the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTC) courts in Isa Town.
In the first singles, Bahrain’s 19-year-old Elyas Abdulnabi went down to Myanmar’s Tin Myo Wai 6-2, 7-5 in a match lasting an hour and 35 minutes.
Bahrain bounced back in the second singles with Hassan Abdulnabi registering a 6-2, 6-3 win over Myanmar’s Aung Kyaw Naing.
Hassan, however, could not maintain the winning touch in the doubles, partnering with his brother Abdulkarim Abdulnabi against Myanmar’s duo Naing and Phyo Min Thar.
The Bahrainis managed to claim a 6-1 win in the first set but failed to continue their superb performance in the second set as they fell 3-6.
The tie-breaking set saw Myanmar’s duo collect a 6-4 win to give their nation the match points.
Bahrain had lost 3-0 to Saudi Arabia in their opening encounter on Monday.
In the same group, Cambodia consolidated their place at the top with a 2-1 win over Kyrgyzstan.
Cambodia went ahead in the first singles when Phalkun Mam defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Farhad Urumbaev 6-2, 6-1. Kyrgyzstan staged a comeback in the second singles when Evgeniy Babak defeated Cambodia’s Sarith 7-5, 6-2.
In the doubles, Cambodia’s Kenny Bun teamed up with Mam to see off Kyrgyzstan’s Babak and Denis Surotin 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Cambodia sit comfortably at the top of the table in Group A after winning their first two clashes.
Saudi Arabia sit in second place with one victory while Myanmar are in third place having a 50 per cent win percentage in two games.
Bahrain sit in third place with two losses from two encounters while Kyrgyzstan are fifth after having lost their opener.
In Group ‘B’, Oman maintained their impressive run defeating Singapore 2-1 to top the table.
Oman won both singles as Mohammed Al Nabhani defeated Hao Yuan NG 7-5, 6-3 and Abdulla Al Barwani held off Shaheed Alam 6(5)-7(7), 7(7)-6(4), 7-5.
In the doubles, Al Nabhani and Younis Al Rawahi were beaten by Singapore’s NG and Roy Hobbs 6-0, 6-3.
Iraq, meanwhile, managed to claim their first win of the tournament after defeating Tajikistan 2-1. The team had earlier lost to Mongolia with the same score.
In the last game, Bangladesh lost 2-1 to Mongolia.
Oman and Mongolia sit on top of Group ‘B’ with two wins each while Singapore and Iraq are third and fourth with a 50 per cent win ratio. Bangladesh and Tajikistan sit at the bottom of the table with no wins.
The 11 nations taking part in the tournament are split into two groups, with Group ‘A’ including Cambodia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan. Group ‘B’ includes Oman, Iraq, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Singapore and Tajikistan.
The leader from each group will face the runners-up of the other to determine the two countries which will be promoted to Asia-Oceania Zone Group Three in next year’s edition.
Today’s fixtures:
10am: Bahrain vs Cambodia; Saudi Arabia vs Kyrgyzstan; Singapore vs Bangladesh; Oman vs Iraq; Mongolia vs Tajikistan.
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