More good news for the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team.
After advancing from Group III to Group II for next year’s Davis Cup competition, the islanders captained by the CNMI’s very own Jeff Race has leapfrogged 16 places and is now ranked 76 in the world.
The Pacific Oceania team is now in the top half of the 146 nations that compete in Davis Cup annually.
“It’s great to improve in the rankings. I would like to congratulate Pacific Oceania and my teammates for this latest achievement,” said Race.
Michael Leong of Solomon Islands, Juan Langton of American Samoa, and Brett Baudinet of Cook Islands made up the rest of the team that finished Group III competition with an impressive 4-1 record.
The islanders claimed one of two passes to next year’s Group II bash after avenging a close loss two years ago to a gritty Tajikistan team with a nail-biting 2-1 win last April 11 at the Phu Thu Tennis Center in the former French colony.
“I think all of us agree that this is at or near the top of the highlights of our tennis careers. Certainly it is for me as a coach. All the guys have had some pretty exciting results before, but none could think of a better feeling they had had playing tennis,” Race noted soon after his return to Saipan.
The victory was a storybook ending for Pacific Oceania, which victimized Middle East foes Syria, 3-0, Bahrain, 3-0, and host Vietnam, 2-1, to top Pool B of the competition.
Race, a many-time Davis Cup competitor, also said the Pacific Oceania team would like to dedicate their Davis Cup III success to the late Motuliki Kailahi, a former teammate who passed away in 1997 after figuring in an auto accident.
“Earlier that year Pacific Oceania also moved up to Group II. But then Motuliki was killed in a freak accident. It was very unexpected. It hit us pretty hard and we went on to lose both ties we played in 1998 and moved down to Group III until now,” said Race.
In other news, the Pacific Oceania Fed Cup team also saw its rankings jump to 57. The Fed Cup team enjoyed success in India in late April finishing just one win away from promotion to Group 1 of the Asia/Oceania regional competition. Their ranking has improved 10 places.
Read More
