SANAA (XINHUA) – Thirty-seven Houthi militants were killed on Saturday in a battle with the Yemeni army in Yemen’s central province of Marib, government military source told Xinhua.
The ground battle took place in the area of al-Balak al-Sharki in the government-controlled southern Marib, during which the army recaptured several positions of the militia, he said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led Arab coalition backing the Yemeni army announced the launch of 23 airstrikes, killing 160 Houthi militants and destroying 17 vehicles in southern Marib frontline, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported.
Houthi media made no comment on the battle.
In February last year, the Iran-backed Houthi militia began a major offensive against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government army to capture the strategic oil-rich province.
Yemeni army reinforcements arriving on the southern front of Marib. PHOTO: AFP
THE STAR – An animal shelter in the Gaza Strip is using the wheels of toy cars and kids’ bicycles to build mobility devices for disabled cats and dogs, helping them walk, run and play again despite a lack of access to specialised prosthetics.
Workers at the Palestinian enclave’s Sulala Animal Rescue society are working to fit some 32 cats and dogs with the makeshift wheelchairs or with artificial limbs made from recycled wood and metal.
“They (the animals) get exhausted when they are paralysed, so we give them something that allows them to walk, so they would feel normal. Animals have feelings, too,” Said Al-Aer, who helps run the shelter, said.
One of the dogs, Lucy, whose hind legs were paralysed in a car accident, was given a wheelchair built using the rainbow-coloured rubber wheels of a discarded children’s bike.
With the assistance of volunteers, Lucy slips her upper body through a harness connecting a metal frame to the wheels. Her back legs sit comfortably above the back of the frame. And off she goes.
It was a freezing moment for Lucy, a paralysed dog, when animal caretakers put a wheelchair on her to help her move again. PHOTO: THE STAR
“It is adjustable to the dog’s size,” said Ismail Al-Aer, Said’s uncle, who designed the device.
Ismail created a similar apparatus for cats using the small wheels of a toy race car. The animal shelter, in Gaza City, has received donations from charities in Australia and Britain.
There are no specialised medical centres for animals in Gaza, which is run by the militant group Hamas and is held under an Israeli-led blockade.
While it does have two prosthesis centres, they are busy providing artificial limbs to some 1,600 amputees in the Strip, including many who were shot during border clashes with Israeli troops.
But the centres do not offer services to animals, making the shelter’s initiative all the more important, Gaza veterinarian Bashar Shehada said.
“Amputations drop, as well as ulcers and wounds that result from animals crawling,” Shehada said.
TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they killed six “armed bandits” in a shootout in the country’s southeast that also left three of its members dead.
The latest clashes in Sistan-Baluchistan broke out around a hideout of the militants near a village in the centre of the province, the paramilitary force said late Saturday on its Sepah
News website.
“Six bandits were killed and five others wounded,” it said, while three members of the force also died. No arrests were announced.
Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard securing the area outside the Iranian Parliament. PHOTO: AFP
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Earning road victories against other top NBA teams is quickly becoming a habit for Golden State.
Stephen Curry scored 28 points and had nine assists yesterday to help the Western Conference-leading Warriors to a 123-116 win over the Utah Jazz, who are third in the
conference.
The Warriors notched their second major road victory over an elite Western Conference foe in eight days, after beating second-place Phoenix.
“It’s a good confidence builder to be in these types of settings on the road and get wins like this and show who we are,” Curry said. “Our DNA is built on chasing championships and you got to win games like we have to get it done.”
Andrew Wiggins had 25 points for the Warriors, and Otto Porter Jr had 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Andre Iguodala added 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds off the bench – including a late three-pointer to seal the win.
Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala during a game against the Utah Jazz. PHOTO: AP
Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson all scored 20 points, and Rudy Gobert had 20 points and 19 rebounds in Utah’s seventh home loss.
Mitchell shot just four of 19 from the field for a season-low 21 per cent. It came a day after scoring a season-high 39 points against Minnesota.
“I liked a lot of the looks,” Mitchell said. “It’s the same shots I hit not even 24 hours ago… I can’t count many times the ball rolled in and out. Those nights are going to happen. It can’t go in every night.”
Golden State shot 53 per cent from the field before halftime and had a 14-point lead at the half, which Utah erased and then some (16-point deficit) in the third quarter with a 19-5 run.
Bogdanovic and O’Neale hit back-to-back three-pointers to punctuate the run, which put the Jazz up 79-74.
Utah scored 41 points in the third quarter – the most Golden State has given up during a single quarter this season. But the Warriors came back in the fourth quarter, scoring on seven consecutive possessions for an 111-106 lead. Wiggins led the charge with three straight baskets that finally put Golden State back in front.
“They did a great job of moving the ball, of getting up into us defensively and making us uncomfortable and controlled that third quarter,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “But that requires a lot of energy too. That lead we had at halftime forced them to really get after it in that third quarter and they did. But I thought we had more energy in the fourth as a result.”
Utah tied it at 111-111 on a three-pointer from Bogdanovic. Curry answered with back-to-back baskets and Iguodala added a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 119-112 lead with 40 seconds left.
“I thought we ran out of gas a little bit,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “When they’re scoring, it’s obviously much harder to run. That’s something that we know we need to do throughout the course of a game. I didn’t think we were committed to that on a possession-to-possession basis.”
The Warriors shot 53.5 per cent overall for the game, made 17 three-pointers and improved to 5-16 all-time in New Year’s Day games.
TIP INS
Golden State: Curry has now made at least one tjree-pointer in 158 consecutive games, setting a new NBA record. He eclipsed his own record of 157 straight games. Kevon Looney fouled out with 59.4 seconds left after totaling eight points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Golden State had 39 assists on 46 baskets.
Utah: Mitchell is 29 of 32 from the free-throw line in his last three games. He went 10-of-11 against Golden State but did not attempt a free throw in the fourth quarter. O’Neale finished with 15 points, scoring in double figures for just the second time in 13 games. He went scoreless against Minnesota on Friday after not attempting a shot or a free throw.
FINISHING STRONG
Golden State shot 13 of 18 from the field in the fourth quarter – 11 of those came off assists. The Warriors also committed only three turnovers in the final quarter to finish with a plus-12 point differential in the fourth after struggling to keep pace with Utah in the third quarter.
The Warriors missed just two shots over the final 10 minutes. Wiggins, Iguodala, and Porter all joined Curry in making critical baskets down the stretch.
“They’re talented and they’re gamers and they understand they’re going to have to play like that for us to do special things this year,” Curry said. “The opportunity is there. It’s just a matter of going through the reps.”
PRODUCTIVE PORTER
Porter made the most of his minutes in his third start of the season. He had his first 20-point game of the season while making a season-high nine field goals. The veteran forward also set a new season high in assists.
Porter is averaging 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 2.0 steals over Golden State’s last two road contests.
“He understands the game at such a deep level,” Kerr said.
The Brunei-Muara District Scouts Association (PPDBM) handed over a wakaf contribution of 50 telekung (women’s praying cloth) and 50 Surah Al-Kahfi booklets to the Kampong Bukit Ukong Mosque in Tutong District on December 31, 2021 on behalf of Haji Ibrahim bin Bungsu and family.
During a ceremony at the mosque after Friday prayers, Chairman of the PPDBM Council Skip Haji Jailani bin Haji Ibrahim handed over to Mosque Bilal Ramli bin Haji Hidup the telekungs, Surah Al-Kahfi booklets as well as a PPDBM contribution of four LED emergency lights.
PPDBM representatives were also on hand to distribute donated food and drinks to congregants.
Deputy Chairman of PPDBM Skip Haji Saifulrijal bin Haji Hussin, Treasurer Skip Haji Majid bin Haji Tengah, Commissioner Skip Pengiran Supri bin Pengiran Haji Hashim as well as members of the PPDBM Council and Mosque Takmir Committee also attended.
ABOVE & BELOW: Photos show Kampong Bukit Ukong Mosque Bilal Ramli bin Haji Hidup receiving the contribution from PPDBM Council Skip Haji Jailani bin Haji Ibrahim and PPDBM members. PHOTOS: LYNA MOHAMAD
WASHINGTON (AFP) – United States (US) President Joe Biden’s administration announced on Saturday that it had excluded Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from a US-Africa trade agreement, saying the actions of the three governments violated its principles.
“The United States today terminated Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference programme due to actions taken by each of their governments in violation of the AGOA Statute,” the US Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was put in place in 2000 under the administration of former president Bill Clinton to facilitate and regulate trade between the US and Africa.
But the US is “deeply concerned by the unconstitutional change in governments in both Guinea and Mali,” the statement said.
“It also voiced concern about gross violations of internationally recognised human rights being perpetrated by the government of Ethiopia and other parties amid the widening conflict in northern Ethiopia”.
“Each country has clear benchmarks for a pathway toward reinstatement and the administration will work with their governments to achieve that objective,” the USTR said.
Under the AGOA agreement, thousands of African products can benefit from reduced import taxes, subject to conditions being met regarding human rights, good governance and worker protection, as well as not applying a customs ban on American products on their territory.
By 2020, 38 countries were eligible for AGOA, according to the USTR website.
The agreement was modernised in 2015 by the US Congress, which also extended the programme until 2025.
US says it is ‘deeply concerned’ by the gross human rights violations being perpetrated by the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other parties in northern Ethiopia. FILE PHOTO: AP
CNA – Henny Gunawan and Agung Iswadi could hardly be further from home.
The two Jakartans don winter jackets standing outside the International Centre For Island Technology in Orkney, an archipelago in the far north of Scotland.
The skies are turbulent over this part of the world and the winter comes early. Powerful gales sweep across the island for most of the year, whipping up daunting swells in the surrounding Atlantic Ocean, which pound the western shorelines.
This is a very different island life to what these PhD students know. Both are here to fast track their levels of expertise in the renewable energy sector with the specific ambition of taking that knowledge back home.
They are in the right place then.
Orkney, notwithstanding its small population of around 22,000 and geographic isolation, has become a global centre for clean energy technology, a literal playing ground for experimenting with the next wave of solutions for the world.
ABOVE & BELOW: Henny Gunawan and Agung Iswadi; and Orkney has become a magnet for new renewable technologies. PHOTOS: CNA
With more than 650 wind turbines and about 400 solar panels installed, the islands can generate more than 130 per cent of their energy needs, with the capacity to sell any excess back to the United Kingdom (UK) mainland.
For decades, a spirit of endeavour and a need for resilience has emboldened Orcadians to try and harness the elements around them. The result is the archipelago becoming a magnet for companies, startups and initiatives looking at the skies and into the deep for solutions.
“This is like a living laboratory for us. Maybe like a miniature Indonesia, as an island nation. We can learn many things from here,” Iswadi said.
“I think if Orkney can do it, maybe Indonesia can do it even better. We have much potential in Indonesia, especially from the ocean.”
It was Iswadi who recently greeted a delegation from the Indonesian government visiting Orkney to see firsthand the ways renewable energy was transforming the local economy, around the time of the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow in November.
That visit was another signal of the interest in Orkney from governments, academics and enterprises in Southeast Asia.
THE POWER OF THE OCEAN
Wave and tidal energy are being developed in the waters around Orkney, two fledgling technologies that could have vast potential in different environments.
Mocean Energy has recently completed a round of testing on its pioneering Blue X device, a 20-metre long, 38-tonne prototype that can generate energy using the power of the ocean swell.
“Marine renewables is a growing field. There’s a lot of uses globally for wave power and it’s estimated that wave power could produce up to 15 per cent of the global energy demand,” said Mocean’s Operations Manager Yan Gunawardena.
In 2022, it is planned for the device to be redeployed and connected to a subsea battery, which will be used to power a remotely operated autonomous underwater vehicle. At this stage, it could help provide energy for offshore oil and gas operators.
“Our technology is still in its infancy. We want to try to scale up from a device we currently have,” Gunawardena said.
“The Blue X is our first device and this scale is really designed for off grid offshore and subsea applications. The same technology can then be scaled up to produce grid scale power.”
“We want to make a device about 40 metres long which weighs 300 tonnes. So it’s the next next step and we need to get investment to do that,” he said.
Meantime, another company, Orbital Energy, has launched an even larger project, which attempts to harness the immense potential of the forceful tides that flow around these northern islands.
Over the next 15 years, Orbital’s 72-metre long O2 tidal turbine is expected to produce capacity for clean and predictable power for 2,000 homes, and is also involved a project to generate green hydrogen using an onshore electrolyser.
As the tides can be easily predicted, unlike wind or solar energy applications, there is great hope in this technology becoming a potentially valuable addition to energy mixes.
With its vast maritime resources, adopting similar technologies could come into play in Southeast Asia in coming years.
LOCAL BENEFITS
For his PhD, Iswadi is looking at the technological challenges of marine energy in tropical waters, while Gunawan is focused on the financing of renewable energy, especially in eastern Indonesia where electricity access is uneven and under-resourced.
Aside from them, Orkney-based operations already have a foothold in Southeast Asia.
Aquatera is a local business providing environmental expertise and operational support for many new clean energy ventures and research.
Its director, Ian Johnstone, said he thinks the knowledge that has been developed for years in this part of Scotland is ready to be applied across the globe, a situation made more urgent by climate change.
“The expertise that we’ve built up and the lessons we’ve learned from deploying devices, installing devices, and then learning how to integrate devices into an energy system is incredibly valuable to be taken to other places,” he said.
“We’ve been all across Indonesia, looking at projects and working with regencies. It’s the same in the Philippines where we’ve got very good connections.
“With thousands upon thousands of islands, I think we see this potential and also the drivers of climate change.”
As well as Aquatera, Johnstone has been involved with a local initiative to try and better manage the excess electricity being generated across Orkney. For now, many local residents are not getting direct benefits from clean electricity and household bills remain high.
Additionally, grid capacity issues – the power cable back to the mainland gets overloaded – mean that sometimes wind turbines need to be switched off, which Johnstone described as a “terrible waste”.
“We can still produce more than we can use, so we need to move the energy around. So when the wind is blowing flat out, then we want to be filling batteries or producing hydrogen.
These are two ways that we saw to store energy,” he said.
Several community-owned wind farms are helping to provide direct funds to local projects, such as public transport, affordable housing and loan repayments.
“All that money can feed back into the community so that they can either look to invest in their own projects, or they can look at different projects to help reduce their energy requirements or invest in more renewable projects on their own scale,” said David Hannon, the strategic project manager for Orkney Islands Council.
Getting buy-in from locals is an area that Orkney has been an area of success, but a hurdle elsewhere where the experience of renewable energy is less mature.
The council is active in promoting electric vehicles and a program to convert excess electricity into hydrogen, which can be used to drive vehicles and provide auxiliary power to ships in dock.
“We also are looking into other projects where we could have ferries that are running on hydrogen. So we are very much looking at all the different aspects of hydrogen that could be utilised; we have transport, we have storage, and we have heating,” Hannon said.
HYPE FROM HYDROGEN
Hydrogen is also a focus of the European Marine Research Centre (EMEC), which for years has been trialling new technologies and providing a testbed for other companies.
It sees hydrogen as one of the key ways of integrating power that would otherwise be wasted and decarbonising fossil-fuel heavy industries, like shipping and aviation.
“We think, if the wind is always blowing, the waves are always high, the tide is reliable, there’s an immense resource there that we can’t yet take advantage of. So we look at hydrogen as a means of storing power,” said James Walker, EMEC’s hydrogen development manager.
“And then we can use that hydrogen at a later date to tackle some of the key sectors that are otherwise quite difficult to decarbonise.
“Particularly international long distance shipping, it’s difficult to see an electrified alternative that will address that energy need. Similarly, it’s very difficult to look at a battery operated plane crossing the Atlantic or going from here to Singapore, for example. And in that instance, we need to think about alternatives,” Walker said.
Everything in this closed loop “living lab” is designed to be replicated elsewhere on islands and in coastal environments, once the technology is proven.
The prevailing general attitudes from islanders about tackling unique challenges can help them solve this decarbonisation issue, according to director of the International Centre for Island Technology at the Orkney campus of Heriot-Watt University Sandy Kerr.
So while Orkney might seem completely distant and removed from small islands in Southeast Asia, there are plenty of commonalities to draw upon.
“Because we’re small, and it gives us flexibility to change, maybe we can be fleet of foot and move quicker than big metropolitan areas,” Kerr said.
“But also I think islanders themselves, they’re inherently systems thinkers. If you live on a small island, you know where your energy comes from, you understand the transport links, you know where your water comes from, you understand the life support system for the island in a way that if you live in a city, you probably don’t.
“Curiously, we all face similar problems. We’re at the end of long supply chains and we’re over-reliant on diesel. We need to deal with the intermittency of renewables and relatively small electricity systems,” he said.
“And we all have to decarbonise. There’s no one silver bullet. So we can learn from each other.”
VALANDOVO, REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA (AFP) – Abandoned shops and mostly empty streets offer few signs of life in North Macedonia’s Valandovo, where young people are fleeing in large numbers hoping to find a better life abroad.
Like much of this impoverished corner of southeastern Europe, this tiny Balkan nation is sitting on a demographic time bomb fuelled by an ageing population, sinking birth rate and mass migration.
North Macedonia has shed 10 per cent of its population in the last 20 years. Around 600,000 Macedonian citizens now live abroad, according to World Bank and government data.
Abysmal economic growth and a lack of investment have clobbered the country, now home to just 1.8 million people, in its 30 years of independence.
“If you have a little over 2.4 million citizens and more than a quarter have left, then you have to seriously be worried about what is happening,” said director of the country’s statistics office Apostol Simovski.
Villages and small towns such as Valandovo, 146 kilometres from the capital, offer few jobs, pushing the ambitious and able to search elsewhere.
“The spirit of young people has been systematically destroyed,” the newly elected 33-year-old mayor Pero Kostadinov told AFP. “The enthusiasm to fight and stay home has been lost.”
In Valandovo alone, nearly 90 per cent of people’s income is linked to agriculture, a common denominator across North Macedonia.
A pedestrian walking in a street of the North Macedonian town of Valandovo. Around 600,000 Macedonian citizens now live abroad, according to World Bank and government data. PHOTO: AFP
“Five of my friends from our class of 20 students have already moved abroad with their families,” said a member of the youth municipal council in Valandovo Bojan Nikolov, 24.
The anecdote offers a stark picture of where the country’s future is headed.
Initial results from North Macedonia’s most recent census conducted in September estimate that the population has declined by more than 200,000 since 2002.
Since independence and the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991, many hoped integration into the European Union (EU) would provide a life raft and promises of a brighter future.
But North Macedonia’s path to EU membership has been repeatedly blocked, first by Greece and later Bulgaria, ushering in fresh doubts that the country will ever join and pushing many to jump ship.
For those who stay, monthly salaries average EUR470 (USD530).
“It is better to be a slave for EUR2,000 in some foreign country, than to be a slave with EUR300 at home,” goes a popular refrain in North Macedonia.
It is a picture replicated across the Balkans.
In Albania, about 1.7 million people, or roughly 37 per cent of the population, have left the country in the past three decades, according to government figures.
Hundreds of thousands left Serbia to resettle abroad after wars in the 1990s that pummelled the economy, with estimates suggesting up to 10,000 doctors left in the last 20 years.
“All the countries of the Western Balkans are affected to varying degrees by emigration,” said a professor of economics based in Albanian capital Tirana Ilir Gedeshi.
“The main reasons are economic, but apart from that, social reasons occupy an increasingly important place.”
But for Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – all hoping that EU membership will reverse their fortunes – Croatia provides a stern warning.
Since joining the bloc in 2013, its population of just over four million has shrunk nearly 10 per cent in a decade, according to preliminary census findings.
The United Nations projects that Croatia will have just 2.5 million people by the end of the century.
Demographers warn that the country’s tiny population may lack the resilience to weather further losses. In December, Zagreb sought to reverse some of the brain drain by promising Croatian expatriates in the EU up to EUR26,000 (USD29,000) to return and start a business.
But for some areas, it may already be too late.
“For sale” signs litter the eastern region of Pozega, one of those hardest-hit by war in the 1990s. More than 16 per cent of the area’s population of nearly 80,000 have left in the past decade, official figures show.
“In my street one-third of the houses are empty,” said Igor Cancar, 39, from nearby Brestovac.
They include his sister who moved to Austria with her husband and two children, along with most of his close friends.
“If we want young people to stay, we need a kindergarten and help them build a house,” Cancar added.
“The last train is leaving, and we are doing nothing but standing on the platform and waving.”
Students are heading back to school starting today after a four-month hiatus following the second COVID-19 outbreak in the Sultanate last August.
In a recent statement, the Ministry of Education (MoE) announced that the learning and teaching session for the first phase of the Endemic Stage would begin on January 3 for Years 10-13 students, with physical classes to be held five times a week. Meanwhile, Years 7 – 9 students will commence in-person classes on January 17, in the second phase of the Endemic Stage.
For both stages, only fully vaccinated students will be allowed to attend physical classes. For unvaccinated 12- to 17-year-old students and Year 7 students under 12 years, lessons will continue online or via the home learning pack (HLP).
The Bulletin learnt that teachers had informed parents and guardians on the new school term through circulars and letters. Years 7-9 students will have online classes with links to various platforms to be shared with the students. Attendance will also be recorded.
Year 6 students waiting for the School Assessed Marks (SAM) can commence their Year 7 education tomorrow, after registering at a new secondary school in their catchment area.
The MoE said the provision of antigen rapid test (ART) kits, rooms for ART testing and isolation, as well as a sick bay are in place for the re-opening of the new school term.
A working parent of three told the Bulletin, “It has been a tough few months and difficult period for students as they have had to cope with zero physical classes. Some families faced difficulties in monitoring their children’s online learning, and some students became demotivated or lost interest with distant supervision.
“For children below 12 who are yet to resume face-to-face classes, there is not much we can do as they are unvaccinated. Hopefully, the rolling out of vaccine for this category in the coming months will bring a sigh of relief,” he said.
SYDNEY (AP) – The United States (US) beat Canada and defending champion Russia defeated France at the ATP Cup yesterday, with the the Americans taking a much easier route.
John Isner and Taylor Fritz beat their Canadian singles opponents and then clinched the match in doubles for a 3-0 win.
Isner beat Brayden Schnur 6-1, 6-4 in 66 minutes to give the Americans the early lead.
Schnur was a late replacement for Denis Shapovalov, who withdrew from the opening singles match yesterday due to fatigue. The Canadian is recovering from having contracted COVID-19 at a recent tournament in the Middle East.
Fritz then came from a set down to beat No. 11-ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4 and clinch the match before the Americans won the doubles 6-4, 6-4 over Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov.
Taylor Fritz. PHOTO: AP
Russia, meanwhile, needed the deciding doubles match to clinch victory over France.
Roman Safiullin beat Arthur Rinderknech of France 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 before number 35-ranked Ugo Humbert evened the match with an upset 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (2) win over number two Daniil Medvedev.
But Medvedev and Safiullin came back to beat two fresh opponents in the doubles – Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin – 6-4, 6-4.
Both night matches went to the deciding doubles after Britain and Italy took early leads.
Daniel Evans beat Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 6-2 while Italy’s Jannik Sinner defeated Australia’s Max Purcell 6-1, 6-3.
But world number 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany beat Cameron Norris 7-6 (2), 6-1 and Australia’s Alex de Minaur defeated Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 7-6 (4) to send both matches to a doubles decider.
Isner saved the only break point he faced against his Canadian opponent. “I surprised myself with how well I played out here,” Isner said in his on-court interview. “You always work hard in the offseason, but you never really know what could happen in that first match of the year.”
Isner broke twice in the first set and used his strong serve to capitalize on the advantage. The American hit 10 aces and won 46 per cent of his return points.
“I actually really like this court. It’s not too fast, which I prefer. It gives me a little time to swing out on my shots being so big. That helps me out a lot,” Isner said.
On the opening day on Saturday, Argentina and Spain both cruised to 3-0 victories over Georgia and Chile, respectively. Serbia, despite playing without number one Novak Djokovic, beat Norway 2-1 and Poland took advantage of Stefanos Tsitsipas’ injury-enforced absence in singles to beat Greece 2-1.
The 16 teams are divided into four groups, with the winners of each group advancing to the semifinals on January 7 and 8. The final is scheduled for January 9.
