THE Philippines remained in the hunt for promotion to the Asia/Oceania Group 1 of the Billie Jean King Cup yesterday, sweeping Iran 3-0 for its second straight win in Pool B of Group 2 at the Malaysian National Tennis Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Teen prodigy Tennielle Madis, 16, got the ball rolling, posting her first win in the prestigious team tournament formerly known as the Federation Cup, a hard-earned 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Mandegar Farzami in the first singles match that lasted three hours and 11 minutes.
Alexa Joy Millian followed it up with a 6-1, 6-1 whitewash of Meshkaltolzahra Safi in the second singles before teaming up with Shaira Hope Rivera to subdue the Iranian pair of Safi and Kimia Sagheb Tehrani 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) and complete the sweep.
The second straight triumph of the Filipina netters boosted them to second spot in Group B behind pacesetting Indonesia, which booked its third victory in a row with a close 2-1 win over Pacific-Oceania.
With the score tied at 1-all after the singles matches, Indons Mischka Sinclaire Goenadi and Anjali Kirana Junarto played solid team play, coming from behind to vanquish the Pacific-Oceania tandem of sisters Patricia and Violet Apisah 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 in the deciding doubles match.
The triumph of the Pinay netters should serve as a huge morale boost as they play Pacific-Oceania in a bid to tighten their grip on second in the single-round series for a bid to be one of two teams advancing to the crossover playoffs against the top two teams in Group A.
The winners of the playoffs will be promoted to Group 1 of the tournament in 2026, just one level short of the elite World Group, where the top guns of tennis, such as the US, France, Spain and Japan, among others, see action.
