Pacific Oceania begins tie with S. Korea today

Pacific Oceania will face its biggest test yet today when the islanders face 43rd-ranked South Korea in the second round of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II competition at Seoul, South Korea’s mammoth Olympic Tennis Court.

Leading Pacific Oceania’s campaign against the East Asian powerhouse are three returnees from the islanders’ last tie against Lebanon— Solomon Islands’ Michael Leong, Western Samoa’s Juan Langton, and Cook Islands’ Brett Baudinet.

Captain Jeff Race of the CNMI has also bolstered the team’s firepower by adding former Georgia Tech standout West Nott of the Marshall Islands in lieu of Cyril Jacobe of Vanuatu.

Pacific Oceania, which is currently ranked No. 63 in the Davis Cup rankings, would play the first two of four singles matches today at the 9,750-seat stadium. Saturday would then see both teams play the doubles and the final day, Sunday, would have reverse singles.

Oceania Tennis Federation executive officer Patrick O’Rourke said the team arrived in the South Korean capital last Sunday. He said practice was limited to one session indoors Monday because of rain.

He also said Nott seems to be fitting in well and in fact played a very solid practice match with Leong during the week.

Langton is the most seasoned Davis Cupper for Pacific Oceania having seen action in 28 games, taking 17 of them. The 22-year-old made his Davis Cup debut in April 2002 and in the team’s last tie against Lebanon in March recorded a 1-1 mark. He won against Karim Alayli in the singles, but dropped the doubles with Baudinet against Patrick Chucri and Jicham Zaatani.

His doubles partner, Baudinet, has been with the islanders since February 2000 and is 13-13 in Davis Cup play. The 23-year-old lost both his matches against Lebanon, losing in the doubles with Langton and falling to Chucri in the token final reverse singles.

Pacific Oceania’s youngest member also happens to be, so far, its most successful Davis Cup player, as Leong has gone 6-1 since joining the team in April last year. The 19-year-old outlasted Lebanon’s top players Chucri and Zaatani last March.

Making his Davis Cup debut is 23-year-old Nott, who was born in the Marshall Islands and grew up in Micronesia before heading to college in the U.S. He served as a vital cog for the Yellow Jackets men’s tennis team from 2001 to 2004 and graduated with a degree in management in 2004. At one time, Nott was also ranked among the top 10 juniors in the U.S.

As a team, Pacific Oceania sports a 23-24 record entering its tie against South Korea. The team made its debut in Davis Cup competition in 1995.

Just last week the home team announced its Davis Cup selection with all four players ranked in the top 900 of the International Tennis Federation rankings.

Oh-Hee Kwon is ranked 472 in singles rankings and 636 in doubles rankings of the ITF. Seung-Hoon Lee is just six notches below Kwon in the ITF singles rankings, but is No. 1,254 in doubles. Woong-Sun Jun is ranked 604 in singles and 559 in doubles, while Sun-Young Kim Jr. is ranked 848 and 791 in singles and doubles, respectively.

Gap-taik Roh will serve as team captain for South Korea, which advanced to the semifinals of the Asia/Oceania Zone Group II with a 3-2 win over the Philippines last March. In Davis Cup play, South Korea has compiled a 32-47 win-loss record since joining the competition in 1959.