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Sinclair-led Pacific Oceania returns to Group II in 2023
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Posted on Aug 16 2022
The CNMI’s Colin Sinclair, fourth from left, joins a selfie with the rest of the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team after the team topped the 2022 Asia/Oceania Group III Davis Cup Event last Sunday in Tay Ninh, Vietnam. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
The CNMI’s Colin Sinclair and the rest of the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team topped the 2022 Asia/Oceania Group III Davis Cup Event held last week in Tay Ninh, Vietnam.
Entering the tie ranked No. 74 in the world, Pacific Oceania beat No. 69 Vietnam in the finals last Sunday not only to get a promotion to the Group II Play-Offs in 2023 but also take the No. 1 place in the positional Play-Offs.
Vanuatu’s Clement Mainguy gave Pacific Oceania a 1-0 lead after defeating Linh Giang Trinh, 7-6 (4), 6-3, in the opening singles.
Vietnam, however, equalized when Nam Hoang Ly, who is ranked No. 344 in the world, got the better of Sinclair, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
In the deciding doubles, Sinclair teamed up with Cook Islands’ Brett Baudinet and outlasted Ly and Quoc-Khanh Le, 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3.
Last Saturday, Pacific Oceania defeated Saudi Arabia, 3-0, to win their pool without dropping a set to gain automatic promotion to the Group II Play-Offs in 2023.
Mainguy, playing in the No. 2 position, beat Saudi Arabia’s Saud Alhogbani, 7-5, 6-0, while Sinclair won his No. 1 singles match against Ammar Faleh Alhogbani, 6-4, 6-0.
Baudinet and Tahiti’s Gillian Osmont then won their doubles match against Zaid Ahmed and Abdullah Alfaraj, 7-6 (7), 6-2.
Pacific Oceania also swept Pool B teams United Arab Emirates and Iran to advance to the 2022 Asia/Oceania Group III Davis Cup Event opposite the hosts.
Vietnam topped Pool A with similar 3-0 wins over Malaysia, Syria, and Jordan.
The Pacific Oceania is captained by Vanuatu’s Aymeric Mara and is also made up of Papua New Guinea’s Matthew Stubbings, who was sidelined by an injury. Cyril Mainguy served as the team’s manager.
