Fadhil Yunus
Brunei Darussalam’s tennis team finished fourth out of seven entrants in Event ‘A’ of the 2022 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV following a 2-0 defeat over Kyrgyzstan at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association Courts in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Captain Billy Wong Kee Loong lost to Ilgiz Kamchibekov 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss, while Mohammad Aiman Abdullah was beaten 6-0, 6-0 by Mirgiiaz Mirdzhaliev.
“We are incredibly happy with the results in this year’s Davis Cup,” Wong told the Bulletin yesterday. “It’s our best performance in this event as we had never been able to win two ties in a single event.”
The team captain continued, “For us to compete and work our way into the third place playoff was a huge achievement, and every single member of the team should be proud of themselves.”
Earlier, Brunei had entered the playoff after finishing as runners-up of Pool ‘B’ behind eventual group winners Iraq.
Brunei began their campaign with a 3-0 defeat to Iraq before winning successive matches against Yemen and Maldives.
The Sri Lanka meet marked the Sultanate’s resumption in the international competitive scene since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It also marked their return to the Davis Cup – the premier international men’s tennis team tournament- for the first time since 2008.