Sri Lanka made a winning start to their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over top seeds Qatar at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts in Colombo today (22nd July).
The hosts took the lead through Thehan Wijemanne, who produced a spirited comeback to defeat Mossa Alharrasi in the opening singles encounter. After dropping the first set 3-6, Wijemanne fought back strongly to claim the next two sets 6-4, 6-4 and hand Sri Lanka an early advantage.
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Qatar hit back in the second singles match as Mubarak Alharrasi overcame Apna Perera in three sets. Perera won the opening set 6-3 but was unable to maintain the momentum, with Alharrasi taking the next two sets 6-4 and 6-2 to level the tie at 1-1.
With the contest hanging in the balance, the doubles pairing of Saha Kapilasena and Apna Perera delivered under pressure. The Sri Lankan duo edged out Jabor Al-Mutawa and Mubarak Alharrasi in two tightly contested tie-break sets, winning 7-6, 7-6 to seal the tie 2-1 in favour of the hosts.
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The seven-nation tournament features Sri Lanka, Qatar and the Northern Mariana Islands in Group A, while Group B consists of Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Iraq.
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