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By Frank Calapre, Correspondent
THE Philippines expects a strong challenge from
Japan in the Davis Cup Group I tie slated February 8 to 10 at the
Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Fil-Americans Cecil Mamiit and Frederick Taino
will be joined in the team by two more players to be chosen in a
tryout scheduled this weekend.
Vying for the two slots are many-time Davis
Cupper and SEAG veteran Johnny Arcilla, Patrick John Tierro and
promising juniors Kyle Dandan and Pablo Olivarez 2nd.
In preparation for the coming tournament, the
2006 Asian Games bronze medalist Mamiit will compete in Hawaii and
China while Arcilla and Tierro will see action in India.
“Our players are ready and we are looking
forward to a very exciting competition against Japan,” said Jean
Lhuillier, the RP team manager, during Tuesday’s PSA Forum at
Shakey’s UN Avenue branch.
It will be the 11th time that RP and Japan will
meet with the Japanese winning six times.
The winner between the RP-Japan tie will advance
against the winner between India and Uzbekistan.
“We have a long history with Japan in the
Davis Cup and this time, we have good players and I’m sure, we can
win this competition,” added Lhuillier.
The Japanese team will be led by world No. 212
Go Soeda, No. 244 Takao Suzuki, No. 288 Kei Nishikori, No. 367
Satoshi Iwabuchi and No. 300 Gouichi Motomura.
Mamiit, ranked No. 496 in the world, and Soeda
are 1-1 in their head-to-head encounter while Taino leads Suzuki,
1-0.
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