By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Philippine routed Kyrgyzstan, 2-0, to earn promotion to Group III in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone on Saturday, July 19, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Jed Olivarez set the tone for the Filipinos with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kirill Kistanov in the first singles, before AJ Lim sealed the win with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Ilgiz Kamchibekov in the second singles.
With Lim’s win, the non-bearing doubles match pitting Francis Casey Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales against Erbol Eldiyar Uulu and Kistanov was called off.
It was an impressive performance for the PH squad, which never dropped a single match since the group stage.
They finished Pool B unscathed with 3-0 tie victories over Pacific Oceania, Kuwait and Qatar that earned them a promotional playoff match against Kyrgyzstan.
The Kyrgyz, meanwhile, remained in Group IV.
Also getting promoted to Group III was Malaysia, which blanked Qatar, 2-0, in the other pairing.
The PH team is also composed of Davis Cup veteran Ruben Gonzales and Arthur Craig Pantino, with Joseph Lizardo as team captain.
