MUSCAT: Oman were placed in a tough pool along with UAE for the 2018 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV competition after the draw was made on Sunday. The competition will take place at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex from January 29 to February 3. The competition draw was conducted at the Sundus Rotana on Sunday after the meeting of the team captains. The 12 teams are divided into two pools. Oman and UAE are in Pool A along with Myanmar, Iraq, Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan. The other six teams, Singapore, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Tajikistan and Guam are in Pool B.
The round robin ties (two singles and a double match) will see the teams playing against each other once in the respective pools. All matches will be played from 10 am.
The winner of Pool A will play-off against the runner-up in Pool B and the winner of Pool B will play-off against the runner-up in Pool A to determine which two nations will be promoted to Asia/Oceania Zone Group III in 2019.
On the first day (January 29), Oman will play against Bangladesh.
In the other Pool A ties of the day, UAE will play Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar play Iraq.
In Pool B, Singapore will play Guam, Turkmenistan will play Tajikistan and Mongolia will play Bahrain.
Oman will be represented by Muneer al Rawahi, Abdullah al Barwani, Younis al Rawahi and Mohammed al Nabhani.
National team’s non-playing captain Siddiq al Hashmi said: “We are in a very tough group. There are teams which are ranked higher than us and have very good players.”
“Having said that we are very confident of doing well because of the right kind of preparations we had for this competition.”
Oman had undergone a training camp in France in preparation for the tournement.
“Our training camp in France has been very fruitful. Besides the rigorous training, our players also got an opportunity to play some tough matches against very strong players.
“Our players have emerged physically and mentally strong after the camp in France. They are ready for the competition.”
Pools
Pool A: UAE, Oman, Myanmar, Iraq, Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan
Pool B: Singapore, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Guam.
Teams
Bahrain: Ali Dawani, ElyasAbdulnabi, HamadAbdulaal, Yusuf Qaed. Captain: EsamAbdulaal
Bangladesh: SreeAmol Roy, DipuLal, Ranjan Ram, Mohammed Rana. Captain: Rokon Uddin Ahmed
Guam: Daniel Llarenas, Christopher Cajigan, Jean Pierre Huynh, Mason Caldwell. Captain: Torgun Smith
Iraq: BarakatZainy, Adel Mustafa Al Saedi, Akram M. Abdalkarem Al Saady, Ali KhairiHashim Al Mayahi. Captain: Oday Ahmed Jahad
Kyrgyzstan: EvgeniyBabak, Kirill Kistanov, GeorgyKotlyarevsky, TemiirlanbkSultanov. Captain: GeorgyKotlyarevsky
Mongolia: AnkhsaikhanTemuugei, TamirAnkhbayar, MunkhbaatarBadrakh, BaatarOyunbat. Captain: GunsenkhorlooNyamdelger
Myanmar: Zaw San Oo, Tin MyoWai, AungMyo Thant, AungKyawNaing. Captain: AungKyawNaing
Oman:Muneer Al Rawahi, Abdullah Al Barwani, Younis Al Rawahi, Mohammed Al Nabhani. Captain: Siddiq Al Hashmi
Singapore: ShaheedAlam, Roy Hobbs, Hao Yuan Ng, Yuan-XiongHui. Captain: Yuan-XiongHui
Tajikistan: FiruzMukhidinov, AzamatMukhudinov, ShakhromUmarov, FirdavsOdinaev. Captain: AbdurasulMukhidinov
Turkmenistan: Isa Mammetgulyyev, AtlymyratGurbanov, ArslanOrashev, HadzhymyratCharyyev. Captain: AleksandrShleykin
UAE: FahadJanahi, Omar Al Awadhi, Abdulrahman Al Janahi, Fares Al Janahi. Captain: Mahmoud Khalifa Al Blooshi.
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