Sports: Cambodia aiming for success in 2024 Davis Cup/Oceania Group IV play-offs

Cambodia is set to excel in the upcoming 2024 Davis Cup/Oceania Group IV Playoff Event, with a view to earning a place in the three-tiered Davis Cup in 2025.

This expectation was highlighted by Mr Tep Rithivith, Secretary General of the Tennis Federation of Cambodia (TFC), at a recent press conference

The 2024 Davis Cup/Oceania Group IV play-off event will be held at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh from 10-13 July and will feature athletes from seven other countries, including Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Cambodia is ready to welcome sports delegates, coaches and athletes and the federation is preparing its five athletes for the historic event in Cambodia. The Kingdom joined the Davis Cup/Oceania Group IV in Qatar in 2012, and the Cambodian team won the competition, finishing first, and moved on to the Asia/Oceania Group III in 2013.

The tournament will place at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh from July 8 to 13

The national tennis team boasts Cambodia’s most promising tennis players, including Timothy Tep, Sarinreach Leng, Ponlok Khleang and Mathew Krusling. Team Cambodia has undergone comprehensive training that highlights the spirit of teamwork, which helps to unite all the players through understanding and mutual support. Earlier, from June 16 to 19, the squad attended a training camp in Siem Reap before joining a tennis tournament in Pattaya, Thailand.

“For the past 30 years, Cambodia has dreamt about hosting such an event at home, but that dream was very far-fetched since we got involved and played in the Davis Cup in 2012. That dream got a little bit closer, but it was still difficult to imagine. In 2024 that dream has arrived and we are hosting seven other nations in the world’s most prestigious tennis team event,” Tep Rithivit, secretary general of Tennis Cambodia told local press.

He thanked Hun Many, President of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia (UYFC), who will preside at the Davis Cup opening ceremony on July 10.

The group event is divided into two pools, each with four teams. The top team in each pool plays off against the nation finishing second in the other pool. The nations finishing in third place in each pool play a relegation match against the nation finishing fourth in the other pool. Matches progress through a round-robin format, with two singles and one decisive doubles match.