Pacific Oceania wins Davis Cup Group II qualifier

Pacific Oceania rallied overnight from 1-2 deficit winning both reverse singles yesterday to clinch its Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II second round tie against Malaysia, 3-2, on the hardcourts at Ligue Caledonienne de Tennis Stadium, headquarters of Ligue Caledonienne de tennis in Noumea, New Caledonia.

The victory means Pacific Oceania will remain in Group II of Davis Cup for 2007. The islanders are coached by team captain Jeff Race of the CNMI.

The extreme weather conditions proved the deciding factor as the islanders rebounded from a loss in the doubles match Saturday to beat Malaysia by winning both reverse singles over opponents who suffered in the heat after playing on both the first two days.

The first reverse singles between the nations’ respective No. 1 players Yew-Ming Si and Michael Leong began in searing heat.

The players traded breaks of serve early on and then at 3-all Leong served three aces to hold serve and then broke Si to go ahead 5-3. He then served out the set comfortably.

In the second set, Leong raced to a 4-0 lead before Si fought hard and with a number of grueling rallies and good serves managed to hold serve twice as Pacific Oceania claimed the second set 6-2.

Si held serve at the start of the fourth set but was broken in the third game to allow Leong to get in front. It was all the Solomon Islander needed as he combined drop shots with big forehands to hold his serve and then broke the Malaysian to love in the seventh game. Leong then served out the match to bring Pacific Oceania level at 2-all.

In the deciding rubber, Juan Sebastian Langton of Western Samoa claimed the first set 6-2 after breaking serve in the fourth and eighth games with great backhand passing shots and two fantastic chases where he ran down drop shots from Selvam Veerasingam, Malaysia’s No. 2 player.

In the second set the Malaysian began to tire and Langton raced through the set 6-1.

In a very brave show Veerasingam surged to a 4-0 lead in the third set before his legs began to cramp and Langton broke twice to trail 4-5. At the end change the doctor was called and although Veerasingam got up to play he cramped again and was forced to retire.

Langton played the last rubber for Pacific Oceania as West Nott, of Marshall Islands, failed to recover sufficiently from the muscle cramps sustained during Friday’s match.

On Saturday, Si and Veerasingam put Malaysia ahead when they beat Brett Baudinet, of Cook Islands, and Langton, 6-4, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (3) in doubles.

On Friday, the teams split the opening singles. Si beat Nott of Pacific Oceania 2-6, 1-6, 1-2, retired and Leong defeated Veerasingam 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

The two other players that were on the roster for Malaysia but didn’t see action were Razvan Rawi and Shi-Hao “Jonathan” Yip. Serving as team captain was Muliyadi Bin Jamal.

It was Pacific Oceania’s first win against Malaysia in five tries. The Southeast Asian defeated Pacific Oceania, 3-0, in Malaysia in 2003; 3-0 again in 1999 in Bangladesh; 2-1 in 1997 in Qatar; and 2-1 in 1996 in the United Arab Emirates.