Singapore back in Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group 3 after win over Kyrgyzstan

SINGAPORE – Shaheed Alam has been on many flights around the world as a tennis player competing in tournaments. One in particular stands out for him; the 16-hour journey back to the United States from Bahrain in October 2022.

Then, he and the Singapore men’s team lost the chance to get promoted from the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group 4 after they were beaten 2-1 by Cambodia in the promotional play-off. Getting so close only to let the opportunity slip was painful.

For most of that flight, he stared into blank space wondering what could have been.

But now, in 2023, Shaheed will have a smile on his face as he heads back to Florida, where he pursues a degree in business administration at the Keiser University.

On Saturday, he helped the Republic beat Kyrgyzstan in the Group 4 promotion play-off in Antalya, Turkey, earning promotion to the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group 3.

The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in the sport and run by the International Tennis Federation. 

Shaheed, 25, who made his Davis Cup debut in 2014 and also featured in the tournament on home soil in 2019, said the 2022 defeat was really tough “because the moment Cambodia won, their supporters rushed to the court and they celebrated like crazy. It really did hurt us a lot”.

He added: “I had to fly back to school in Florida and trust me, it was a tough flight. To be in the air, 16 hours alone and thinking back about the match that we lost is not where you want to be.”

Singapore had started their 2023 campaign with a 2-1 loss to eventual Pool A toppers Syria last Wednesday, but recovered with 3-0 victories over the United Arab Emirates and Iraq to finished second in their group.

It meant they entered the promotional play-off against Kyrgyzstan, who finished first in Pool B with a perfect record of three wins in three.

At the Megasaray Tennis Academy, Shaheed won the first singles match, beating Kyrgyzstan’s Mirgiiaz Mirdzhaliev 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. Roy Hobbs then sealed the tie when he defeated Ilgiz Kamchibekov 6-4, 6-2. With a 2-0 lead, the doubles match did not need to be played.

Shaheed said: “Last year’s defeat by Cambodia was decided in the doubles.

“This time we made it a point to try and secure the match with the two singles, just try to get the job done as quickly as possible and not let it go to the doubles.

“Roy and I did a good job with that. The rest of the team also really supported us well. In the end, it was more relief than excitement.”

The rest of the team featured Jerall Yasin, Michael Jimenez, Steve Ng and captain Daniel Heryanto.

Singapore last played in Group 3 in 2019 but were relegated to Group 4 that year. The country has reached Group 2 on multiple occasions, the most recent being in 1997.

Shaheed is looking forward to more competitive matches while also eyeing another promotion. He said: “It’s where we belong (Group 3) definitely but we are hoping to push to Group 2. We know it’s going to be a lot tougher than it was this year.

“It will be a real battle but we’ve got about a year to prepare and we are all going to train hard and do the best we can next year.”