Sri Lanka and Lebanon added the gloss to a flowless week of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas action in Colombo, defeating Qatar and Jordan respectively in Saturday’s play-offs to earn promotion to Asia/Oceania Zone Group II for 2018.
Both nations went undefeated throughout the week at the Asia/Oceania Zone Group III event, with hosts Sri Lanka defeating Qatar 2-0 to make an immediate return to Group II and Lebanon defeating Jordan the same scoreline to return to Group II after a two-year abscence.
Sri Lanka’s promotion which comes a year after they suffered relegation to the Davis Cup’s fourth tier at the hands of Indonesia was sealed when Sharmal Dissanayake defeated Mubarak Shannan Zayid 6/4, 6/3 after Harshana Godamanna’s earlier victory over Mousa Shanan Zayed.
It was just a second singles victory this week for Dissanayake, but one that at the perfect time, with Godamanna taking the starring tole for Sri Lanka this week. In his 50th Davis Cup tie for his nation, he won his fourth singles tie of the week, improving his record in singles in the international team competition to a remarkable 43-15.
Lebanon triumph was equally authoritative with Hady Habib thumping Hamzeh Al-Aswad 6/2, 6/0 in the opening rubber for his 11th straight Davis Cup singles victory before Giovani Samaha sealed the triumph with a 6/4, 3/6, 6/2 over Mousa Alkotop in two hours ans 26 minutes.
Meanwhile Pacific Oceania and Syria maintained their places in Asia/Oceania Zone Group III after surviving the relegation play-offs with wins over Turkmenistan and UAE respectively.
Having lost all five of its ties this week, Turkmenistan drops into Group IV next year for the first time since 2013, while UAE who did manage a win over Turkmenistan in the group stages, drops immediately into Group IV having won promotion last year.
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