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KUWAIT CITY: An eleventh hour decision by the
International Tennis Federation (ITF) could have unwittingly given
the Philippines a slight edge over Kuwait in their Asia-Oceania Zone
Group II final tie set to start Friday at the Yarmouk Tennis Club
court here.
The ITF, upon receipt of an
advisory from the Kuwait Ministry of Sports disallowing players
from drinking water and eating on court during this month of Ramadan
in front of television cameras from sunrise to sunset, ordered the
rescheduling of the start of the matches from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (11
p.m. in Manila).
For all the Muslims in the world,
Ramadan is a month of fasting, keeping them away from food and water
from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This means that top Filipino
netter Cecil Mamiit will be spared from the scorching sun, which
raises the temperature here to up to 50 degrees Celsius, when he
plays Kuwaiti No. 2 Ahmed Muhammad in the first singles match of the
best-of-five tie on Friday.
“In the spirit of
sportsmanship, we acceded to the order of the ITF which we felt was
out of order having been issued only at 1 a.m. of Friday here,”
non-playing coach Martin Misa bared.
“No problem for me. I am used
to playing under light and I could play anytime,” said the
31-year-old Mamiit, who will stake his unbeaten streak of eight
singles matches in Davis Cup play against the 20-year-old Muhammad.
Playing in the second singles
right after the Mamiit-Muhammad match is Eric Taino against the
Kuwaiti top player Mohammed Ghareeb.
The doubles, also to be played at
6 p.m. on Saturday, initially pit Patrick John Tierro and Johnny
Arcilla against Ghareeb and Muhammad. The reverse singles will be
played on Sunday.
Mamiit was picked to play the
first match during the Thursday draw devoid of any formality with
only the Spanish neutral referee officiating in the ceremony.
Completing the team are coach
Chris Cuarto and team manager jean Henry Lhuillier.
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