PH Cuppers promoted to Group III

The Philippine routed Kyrgyzstan, 2-0, to earn promotion to Group III in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone on Saturday, July 19, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Jed Olivarez set the tone for the Filipinos with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kirill Kistanov in the first singles, before AJ Lim sealed the tie win with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Ilgiz Kamchibekov in the second singles.With Lim’s win, the non-bearing doubles match pitting Francis Casey Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales against Erbol Eldiyar Uulu and Kistanov was called off.It was an impressive performance for the PH squad, which never dropped a single match since the group stage. They finished Pool B unscathed with 3-0 victories over Pacific Oceania, Kuwait and Qatar that earned them a promotional playoff match against Kyrgyzstan.The Kyrgyz, meanwhile, remained in Group IV.Also getting promoted to Group III was Malaysia, which blanked Qatar, 2-0, in the other pairing.The PH team is also composed of Davis Cup veteran Ruben Gonzales and Arthur Craig Pantino, with Joseph Lizardo as team captain.