PH Davis Cup team to arrive Cebu today

MEMBERS OF THE Philippine Davis Cup Team will start arriving today for the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone Group 1 knockout tie between the Philippines and the Chinese Taipei on Sept. 16, 17 and 18 at the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa.

First to arrive this morning is Philippine Davis Cup team captain Cecil Mamiit, Jeson Patrombon and Johnny Arcilla.

Coming in from Italy in the afternoon is Ruben Gonzales while the fifth member of the team, Treat Conrad Huey, will be arriving tomorrow afternoon.

From the airport, Mamiit, Patrombon and Arcilla will proceed to a press conference at the Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino Mactan.

After lunch, they will immediately start their training at the Plantation Bay shell clay court.

Tomorrow afternoon, the team will have a meet-and-greet session with fans at the Lapu-Lapu tennis courts.

The Chinese Taipei team, on the other hand, will be arriving on Monday, according to Philippine Davis Cup administrator Randy Villanueva.

The Chinese Taipei team will be manned by Chia-Yen Tsai (captain), Ti Chen, Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, Hsin Han Lee and Chu-Huan Yi.

Good news for the Philippine Team is that Chinese Taipei’s no.1 junior tennis player Yen Hsun Lu is not part of the team. Lu is ranked in the top 100 in the world and has beaten the likes of world class tennis players Andy Roddick and Andy Murray.

Unlike the first Davis Cup held here, playing a big role in the hosting this time is Plantation Bay and the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) in cooperation with the Lapu-Lapu City government.

Lapu-Lapu City Councilor Harry Don Radaza reiterated that they would have refused the hosting chores when it was first offered to them because it was only last March when they hosted a Davis Cup tournament.

However, he said it was an offer they could not refuse because the Philta itself was going to handle the finances and even gave them about P70,000, unlike the first time wherein it was mostly Lapu-Lapu City that shelled out the funding.

Radaza said all they needed to do was provide the personnel.

He said that of the P70,000, P50,000 will be used to pay the overtime pay of Lapu-Lapu City employees who will be made to work during the Davis Cup weekend.

The remaining P20,000 will be donated by Philta to the Home Care, a halfway house operated by Lapu-Lapu City . This because the City has waived the amusement tax for the international tennis tournament. CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON