21 Jul 2017

Sport: Pacific Oceania tennis teams miss promotion

11:28 am on 21 July 2017

Pacific Oceania's hopes of promotion in the Fed Cup and Davis Cup tennis competitions are over.

The women were swept 3-0 by Hong Kong in their second match in Tajikistan, which determined who would top their pool in Asia/Oceania Zone Group Two and advance to the semi finals.

The Pacific Oceania Fed Cup team in Tajikistan.

The Pacific Oceania Fed Cup team in Tajikistan. Photo: Supplied

Steffi Carruthers and Abigail Tere-Apisah were both beaten in straight sets in their singles rubbers against Eudice Chong and Ling Zhang, who is ranked over 100 places lower than Papua New Guinea's Apisah.

With the tie already decided Carol Lee and Mayka Zima suffered the same fate in the doubles, going down 6-4 6-4.

Hong Kong were joined by Uzbekistan, Malaysia and Indonesia in the semi finals, with one promotion place up for grabs.

Pacific Oceania will take on Singapore in the 5th to 8th place playoff, with New Zealand up against Sri Lanka on the other side of the draw.

Meanwhile the men were beaten 2-1 by Jordan in their final pool match to miss out on a chance at promotion from Asia/Oceania Zone Group Three.

In the opening singles rubber, Heve Kelley won the first set 7-5 against Mousa Alkotop but dropped the second 1-6 before losing the decider in a tiebreaker.

Colin Sinclair maintained his unbeaten record, thrashing Mohammed Alyamani 6-1 6-0, to level the tie at one-a-piece, but Brett Baudinet and Aymeric Mara lost the decisive doubles rubber in straight sets.

Sri Lanka topped Pool A and will playoff against the runner-up in Pool B for promotion to Group Two, while Pool A champions Lebanon will take on Jordan.

Pacific Oceania will play the bottom team in Pool B, with the loser to be relegated to Division Four.