Harshana, Sharmal give Sri Lanka sound start
Harshana Godamanna and Sharmal Dissanayake gave Sri Lanka a sound start in their opening matches of Asia/oceania Zone Group III by winning their singles rubbers against Jordan in a Pool A tie played at the SLTA clay courts in Greenpath, Colombo yesterday.
The two wins recorded by the Sri Lankan players virtually assured them the three-set tie even though the duo had to retire in the doubles encounter after conceding the first set and trailing in the second set.
Harshana and Sharmal recorded convincing wins with the former getting the better of Seuf Adas and the latter overcoming Mousa Alkotop with ease.
Sri Lanka will be aiming to get back to Group II after they were relegated to Group III when they were soundly beaten 5-0 by Indonesia last year ending their fiveyear run in Group II.
In the other Pool A tie between Pacific Oceania and Syria, Pacific Ocenia gained a 2-1 victory with Heve Kelly and Colin Sinclair winning their singles matches.
The Pool B encounter between Lebanon and Turkmenistan saw the Lebanese beginning their campaign with a 2-1 win with Hady Habib and Giovani Samaha coming out victorious in the singles encounter.
In the contest between Qatar and United Arab Emirates, the Qataris, after losing the first singles to their opponents, came back to win the singles and doubles encounters to pull off a 2-1 victory -- their first win in a tie since 1996.
The tournament will be continued from 9.00 am today. RESULTS:
Sri Lanka vs Jordan - Singles – Harshana Godamanna (Sri Lanka) beat Seuf Adas (Jordan) 2-1 (6/3, 6/2), Sharmal Dissanayake (Sri Lanka) beat Mousa Alkotop (Jordan) 2-0 (6/2, 6/4); Doubles – Hamzeh Al-aswad/ Mousa Alkotop (Jordan) beat Sharmal Dissanayake/harshana Godamanna (Sri Lanka) 2-0 (4/6, 5/6, Rtd)
Qatar vs United Arab Emirates - Singles – Omar Alawadhi (UAE) beat Jabor Al-mutawa (Qatar) 2-1 (2/6, 6/4, 6/1); Shannan Mubarak Zayid (Qatar) beat Fahad Janahi (UAE) 2-0 (6/2, 6/4); Doubles
– Shanan Mousa Zayed/ Shannan Mubarak Zayid (Qatar) beat Omar Alawadhi/hamed Abbas Janahi (UAE) 2-0 (6/4, 6/4).
Lebanon vs Turkmenistan - Singles – Hady Habib (Lebanon) beat Georgry Pochay (Turkmenistan) 2-0 (6/0, 6/1); Giovani Samaha (Lebanon) beat Yuriy Rogusskiy (Turkmenistan) 2-0 (7/6(1), 6/2); Doubles – Aleksandr Ernepesov/isa Mammetgulyyev (Turkmenistan) beat Jad Ballout/najb Fakih (Lebanon) 2-1 (3/6, 7/6)1), 6/4)
Pacific Oceania vs Syria Singles – Heve Kelly (Pacific Oceania) beat Yacoub Makzoume (Syria) 2-1 (6/3, 1/6, 6/2); Colin Sinclair (Pacific Oceania) beat Kareem Al Allaf (Syria) 2-0 6/4, 6/0); Doubles Yacoub Makzoume/majdi Salim (Syria) beat Brett Baudinet/ Aymeric Mara (Pacific Oceania)
2-1 (6/3, 1/6, 6/3)