Sri Lanka and Vietnam met in a Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group 11 relegation play off from the 4th to the 6th of April in order to determine which country stays in group 11 and which country gets demoted to group 111 and it was the Lankans that gained the better of the home side as they claimed a 3-2 victory in order to ensure their survival in group 11 for the 2015 Davis Cup. Harshana Godamanna who has been the backbone of the team over the last few years could do no wrong for his country as he featured in all three matches that the Lankans won resulting in a well deserved victory for the Sri Lanka team.
The tie began on the 4th of April with Dineshkanthan Thangarajah taking on the talented Vietnamese player Minh- Quan Do. The Vietnamese player had no problems as he dispatched the Sri Lankan with ease with a score line of 6/3 6/3 6/4. Harshana was scheduled to play the second singles of the day but due to the bad weather conditions play was cancelled and scheduled for the next day.
The Vietnamese who had a 1-0 lead going into the second day were expected to have all the confidence especially with the added advantage of playing at home. However the second day of play was dominated by the Sri Lankan number one Harshana Godamanna who scored wins in both his singles match and the doubles match. In the singles he defeated T. Nguyen Hoang 6-2 6-3 6-2. In the doubles he teamed up with the youngster Sharmal Dissanayake as the duo combined brilliantly to defeat Minh- Quan Do and Quoc Khanh Le in straight sets with a score line that read 6-4 7-5 6-3. As day two drew to a close the Lankans were now in control of the tie with a 2-1 lead.
The Vietnamese got off to a perfect start on the last day of play as T. Nguyen Hoang defeated Sharmal Dissanayake 6-2 6-3 6-4. With the tie hanging in the balance the task of elevating Sri Lanka to victory rested on the shoulders of the dependable Harshana Godamanna. He lived up to everyone’s expectations as he put on a brilliant display of tennis against Minh- Quan Do to defeat him with a score line of 6-2 7-5 6-0.
Final Score- Sri Lanka 3 Vietnam 2
ThePapare.com takes this opportunity to congratulate the Sri Lankan team on their wonderful victory.
