PH Fed Cup Team settles for fifth place in Bahrain

The Philippine Fed Cup Team

By Kristoffer Ed Bellen

MANILA—The Philippine Fed Cup Team silenced Oman in their own fifth-eight playoff match, 3-0, to finish at fifth place in the 2018 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Zone Group II at the Bahrain Tennis Federation, at Isa Town, Bahrain, Friday.

Filipino female netters Marian Jade Capadocia, Khim Iglupas, Anna Clarice Patrimonio, and Katharina Lehnert swept all their fourth day assignments in the five-day scheduled affair dated from February 6-10 after winning all of their three rubber matches in the two singles and doubles event without dropping a single set.

Capadocia kicked off the opening blitzkrieg for the Philippines after smashing her way to victory with a quick work against Al Suleimani Aisha, 6-1, 6-0, in just 33 minutes before Iglupas followed suit with a somewhat similar triumph over Al Balushi Maryam, 6-2, 6-1, in about 43 minutes.

Filipino-German Lehnert, meanwhile, teamed up with long-time Fed Cupper Patrimonio to continue the Philippines’ outright dominance in their last match with a 6-1, 6-0 shutout victory against Al Balushi and Al Suleimani Aisha.

Despite the win, the Philippines fell short closer to regain its Group I status after losing all of its four ties at the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I event in Astana, Kazakhstan last year to suffer immediate relegation back to Group II.

The Fed Cup follows a round-robin format featuring two pools of three teams and two pools of four teams where the winners of each pool will play in an inter-pool playoff against one another to determine which nations will advance to Asia/Oceania Zone Group I in 2019.

The Philippines, which is currently ranked as number 48 around the world, failed to advance at the Group II semifinals and get a shot back to Group I after finishing behind Singapore in Pool B with 1-1 win-loss card, highlighted by the latter’s 2-1 victory at the last day of the elimination round.

The Filipinos secured their first team victory in the opening day after eclipsing Kyrgyzstan, 2-1.

Follow the site on Twitter: @DugoutPH