Tennis

Youngster Phạm La Hoàng Anh will be one of Vietnamese players at the 2024 Davis Cup's Group III Asia-Oceania on June 10-15 in Jordan. — Photos of VTF

HÀ NỘI — Despite their youth, the Davis Cup tennis players of Việt Nam are setting their sights high for their 2024 Group III Asia-Oceania zone matches in Amman, Jordan.

The Việt Nam Tennis Federation (VTF) has appointed Trương Quốc Bảo as the team captain.

He will lead a team of five players: Nguyễn Văn Phương, Vũ Hà Minh Đức, Phạm La Hoàng Anh, Trương Vinh Hiển and Đinh Viết Tuấn Minh and, apart from 23 year old Phương, they are all under 20, making up the youngest team ever at the Cup.

The youngest is 18 year old Hoàng Anh who is making his debut in the national team. The teenager has won number of titles including the boys' singles and doubles at the Asian U14 in 2019; the boys' doubles at the ITF J4 HCM City in 2022; the boys' singles at the J100 ITF U18 Kuala Lumpur in 2023; the boys' doubles at the ITF U18 J60 Nonthaburi in 2023.

Tennis veterans such as Phạm Minh Tuấn, Trịnh Linh Giang, Nguyễn Đắc Tiến and number one Lý Hoàng Nam are not listed to play.

Nam, who is ranked world number 472, was initially named in the squad but asked to be withdrawn because he had already registered for M15 Hongkong which is played at the same time.

He was also absent last year but Việt Nam still managed to secure a play-off spot.

A poster of the Vietnamese players who will compete in the 2024 Davis Cup's Group III Asia-Oceania zone in Amman, Jordan.

According to the VTF, the national team is going through a period of rejuvenation and it is time for the youngsters to take charge.

The Davis Cup players are training in HCM City and will leave for Amman on June 9.

At the June 10-15 event, Việt Nam (ranked 70 in the world) and Thailand (69) are the highest-ranking teams among ten participating squads.

The others are Indonesia (85), Iran (71), Malaysia (90), Pacific Oceania (75), Saudi Arabia (85), Singapore (95), Syria (90) and Jordan (82).

They will be divided into two pools of five, competing in a round robin format.

The two pool winners will automatically be promoted to the World Group II Play-offs in 2025. They will be joined by the winner of a promotion play-off between the two teams finishing in second place in each pool. The two lowest placed teams will be relegated to Group IV.

Last year, Việt Nam secured silver at the 2023 Davis Cup's Group III Asia-Oceania zone after losing to hosts Sri Lanka in the final match.

The result was enough to push them to the play-offs in February. However, Việt Nam missed their opportunity to play in the higher level after losing to South Africa at home. — VNS