Apisahs in Pacific team

By PATRICIA KEAMO
NATIONAL tennis champion Abigail Tere-Apisah and her nieces, Violet and Patricia Apisah, began their Billie Jean King Cup campaign as part of a Pacific Oceania team in Malaysia on Monday.
The trio were selected to represent the region in the tournament alongside American Samoa’s Kalani Soli and Fiji’s William O’Connell from Aug 8-14.
Abigail said she was pleased to be selected alongside her nieces after their success in the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games in June.
“I’m proud that the three of us have been to represent the region in the Billie Jean King Cup,” she said.
“Personally, this was unexpected.
“While we were at the Mini Games, we got approached to be nominated for the team.
“It’s just unexpected that I’ve got a tournament again so soon and it’s a higher level than the Pacific Mini Games where players can play professional tennis on tour.
“It’s a good experience for all of us. We’re in Pool B with Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Maldives.
“The Cup is the world’s biggest team event for women’s tennis, so we are representing Pacific Oceania in Malaysia where we are in group two of Asia-Oceania.
“The top nation gets promoted to group one of Asia-Oceania next year.”
Meanwhile, Mathew Stubbings has also joined a Pacific Oceania team to compete in the Davis Cup by Rakuten World Cup group three Asia-Oceania event in Vietnam from Aug 8-13.
Stubbings is part of the team led by Vanuatu’s Aymeric Mara and Clement Mainguy, Northern Marianas’ Colin Sinclair, Cook Islands’ Brett Baudinet and Tahiti’s Gillian Osmont.
The countries competing in the six-day tournament are Vietnam, Pacific Oceania, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Malyasia and the United Arab Emirates.
The top-three countries will progress to the world group-two playoffs early next year.