Pacific Oceania wins opener

CNMI junior player Carol Lee, left, joins her Pacific Oceania teammates for a group photo during a training session for the 2017 Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II in Tajikistan last weekend. (Contributed Photo)

Pacific Oceania prevailed in its debut in the 2017 Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II and 2017 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III.

In the Fed Cup, Pacific Oceania secured the early win in its opening match against Iran after sweeping the two singles yesterday at the Dushanbe Central Stadium in Tajikistan. Pacific Oceania’s Fed Cup team is made up of the CNMI’s Carol Lee, Samoa’s Steffi Carruthers, Papua New Guinea’s Abigail Tere-Apisah, and New Caledonia’s Mayka Zima.

Carruthers gave Pacific Oceania its first triumph after sweeping Yasmin Mansouri in the opening singles match, 6-4, 6-2. In the second singles play, Tere-Apisah sealed the deal for the team after a similar straight sets victory over Sara Amiri, 6-3, 6-0.

In the lone doubles match, Lee teamed up with Zima and they dueled Ghazal Pakbaten and Sadag Sadeghvaziri. The Iranian pair went on to draw first blood with a 6-2 triumph in the opening set, but was denied the sweep when Lee and Zima recovered quickly with a 6-3 win in the second. Lee and Zima led at 2-0 in the second set and never looked back. The deciding third set was being played at press time with the Pacific Oceania duo on top, 1-0.

Pacific Oceania and Iran are with Hong Kong in Pool B of the tournament. Hong Kong defeated Iran last Tuesday, 3-0, and will challenge Pacific Oceania today. The top finisher in Pool B will join the winners in Pools A, C, and D to the semifinals, while the last two teams left standing will battle for the spot in the elite Group I.

Pool D has four countries in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Kyrgystan, while Pool C is made up of Pakistan, Malaysia, and Singapore. New Zealand, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan are in Pool A.

Meanwhile, in the 2017 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Pacific Oceania also won its first assignment after edging Syria, 2-1.

The CNMI’s Colin Sinclair handed Pacific Oceania one of its two victories in the singles event after sweeping Kareem Al Allaf, 6-4, 6-0. Heve Kelley of Tahiti outlasted Yacoub Makzoume in the other singles match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Pacific Oceania dropped the doubles match when Makzoume and Majdi Salim downed the Cook Island’s Brett Baudinet and Vanuatu’s Aymeric Mara, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

Pacific Oceania is in Pool A of the tournament, joining Sri Lanka and Jordan. Pool B has Lebanon, Malaysia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Turkmenistan. The finalists in the competition will be promoted to Group II, while the last two finishers will be relegated to Group IV.