DC Group II First Round, Playoffs and Relegation Ties

Group II Ties
First Round

Europe/Africa Zone Group II

Morocco vs Denmark

Union Sportive des Cheminots du Maroc, Agdal
Stadium Capacity: 1500
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1200 hrs (1200 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1400 hrs (1400 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1200 hrs (1200 hrs GMT)
Surface: Clay (Red Clay) - Outdoors
Ball Type: Dunlop Fort All Court

Morroco

Captain
Moundir Abderrahim

Players




Younes El Aynaoui (Pictured)
Rabie Chaki
Mounir El Aarej
Reda El Amrani

Denmark

Captain
John Larsen

Players

Frederick Nielsen
Rasmus Norby
Martin Pederson
Jacob Melskens

Estonia vs Slovenia

Tondiraba Tennisekeskus, Tallinn, Estonia
Stadium Capacity: 500
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1400 hrs (1100 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1400 hrs (1100 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1300 hrs (1000 hrs GMT)
Surface: Carpet (Bolltex) - Indoors
Ball Type: Dunlop Fort All Court

Estonia

Captain
Ain Suurthal

Players

Mait Kunnap
Vladimir Ivanov
Jurgen Zopp
Mikk Irdoja

Slovenia

Captain
Blaz Trupej

Players

Grega Zemlja
Marko Tkalec
Luka Gregorc
Blaz Kavcic

Greece vs Ukraine

Gianniotiko Saloni, Parko Pirsinella , Ioannina, Greece
Stadium Capacity: 200
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1100 hrs ( 0800 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1330 hrs ( 1030 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1100 hrs ( 0800 hrs GMT)
Surface: Clay - Outdoors
Ball Type: Wilson Tour Davis Cup

Greece

Captain
George Kalovelonis

Players

Konstantinos Economidis
Alexander Jakupovic
Elefterios Alexiou
Paris Gemouchidis

Ukraine

Captain
Volodymyr Bogdanov

Players




Sergiy Stakhovsky
Oleksandr Dolgopolov
Sergei Bubka (Pictured)
Orest Tereshchuk

Nigeria vs Poland

Abuja National Stadium, Abuja
Stadium Capacity: 7500
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1000 hrs (0900 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1100 hrs (1000 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1000 hrs (0900 hrs GMT)
Surface: Hard (Truflex) - Outdoors
Ball Type: Prince Tour Extra Duty

Nigeria

Captain
Rotmi Akinloye

Players

Jonathan Igbinovia
Abdul-Mumin Babalola
Lawal Shehu
Candy Idoko


Poland

Captain
Radoslaw Szymanik

Players




Lukasz Kubot
Dawid Olejniczak
Mariusz Fyrstenberg (Pictured)
Marcin Matkowski

Latvia vs Bulgaria
Tennis Centre Lielupe, Jurmala, Latvia
Stadium Capacity: 800
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1400 hrs ( 1100 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1400 hrs ( 1100hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1400 hrs ( 1100 hrs GMT)
Surface: Carpet - Indoors
Ball Type: Wilson Tour Davis Cup

Latvia

Captain
Girts Dzelde

Players



Ernests Gulbis (Pictured)
Andis Juska
Deniss Pavlovs
Richards Emulins

Bulgaria

Captain
Ivaylo Traykov

Players

Todor Enev
Ilia Kushev
Yordan Kanev
Ivaylo Traykov

Cyprus vs Finland

National Tennis Centre, Nicosia, Cyprus
Stadium Capacity: 1500
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1100 hrs (0800 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1100 hrs (0800 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1100 hrs (0800 hrs GMT)
Surface: Clay (Red Clay) - Outdoors
Ball Type: Babolat VS

Cyprus

Captain
Yiannos Hadjigeorgiou

Players



Marcos Baghdatis (Pictured)
Photos Kallias
Petros Baghdatis
Christopher Koutrouzas


Finland

Captain
Joakim Berner

Players



Jarkko Nieminen (Pictured)
Timo Nieminen
Juho Paukku
Tuomas Ketola


Algeria vs Monaco

Office du Complexe Olympique Mohamed Boudiaf, Algiers
Stadium Capacity: 2000
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1100 hrs (1000 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1300 hrs (1200 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1100 hrs (1000 hrs GMT)
Surface: Clay - Outdoors
Ball Type: Dunlop Fort All Court

Algeria

Captain
Noudjeim Hakimi

Players

Slimane Saoudi
Abdel-Hak Hameurlaine
Mohamed-Redha Ouahab
Mehdi Bouabbane

Monaco

Captain
Emmanuel Heussner

Players



Benjamin Balleret
Jean-Rene Lisnard (Pictured)
Emmanuel Heussner
Guillaume Couillard

Norway vs Hungary

Riksanlegget For Tennis, Oslo, Norway
Stadium Capacity: 300
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1300 hrs (1100 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1300 hrs (1100 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1200 hrs (1000 hrs GMT)
Surface: Hard (Plexipave) - Indoors
Ball Type: Head ATP

Norway

Captain
Anders Haaseth

Players

Stian Boretti
Frederik Sletting-Johnsen
Carl Sundberg
Philip Riise-Hansen

Hungary
Captain
Szabolcs Baranyi

Players
Kornel Bardoczky
Sebo Kiss
Gergely Kisgyorgy
Adam Kellner

Group II Second Round Ties
Winners advance to final in September. Losers remain in Group II in 2008

Americas Zone

Uruguay vs Ecuador

Cantegril Country Club, Punta del Este, Uruguay
Stadium Capacity: 1300
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1000hrs (1300hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1300hrs (1600hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1000hrs (1300hrs GMT)
Surface: Clay (Red Clay) - Outdoors
Ball Type: Wilson US Open Regular Duty

Uruguay

Captain
Jose-Luis Damiani

Players

Pablo Cuevas
Marcel Felder
Martin Vilarrubi
Federico Sansonetti

Ecuador

Captain
Raul Viver

Players

Carlos Avellan
Julio-Cesar Campozano
Jean-Michel Durango
Patricio Alvarado

Paraguay vs Dominican Republic

Yacht y Golf Club Paraguayo, Lambare, Paraguay
Stadium Capacity: 2200
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1600 hrs (2000hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1900 hrs (2300hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1600 hrs (2000hrs GMT)
Surface: Clay (Red Clay) - Outdoors
Ball Type: Wilson Championship Extra Duty

Paraguay

Captain
Victor Pecci

Players



Ramon Delgado (Pictured)
Gustavo Ramirez
Francisco rodriguea
Emilio Baez-Britez

Dominican Republic

Captain
Rafael Moreno

Players

Victor Estrella
Henry Estrella
Luis Delgado

Asia/Oceania Zone

New Zealand vs Philippines

Parnell Tennis Club, Auckland
Stadium Capacity: 500
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1100 hrs (2300 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1300 hrs (0100hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1100 hrs (2300 hrs GMT)
Surface: Carpet - Outdoors
Ball Type: Wilson Australian Open

New Zealand

Captain
James Greenhalgh

Players




Daniel King-Turner (Pictured)
Simon Rea
Jose Statham
Matt Simpson

Philippines

Captain
Martin Misa

Players




Cecil Mamiit (Pictured)
Eric Taino
Patrick-John Tierro
Johnny Arcilla

Kuwait vs Indonesia

Bassam Al-Motowa Tennis Center, Meshref, Kuwait
Stadium Capacity: 250
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1000 hrs (0700 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1400 hrs (1100 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1000 hrs (0700 hrs GMT)
Surface: Hard - Outdoors
Ball Type: Dunlop Fort All Court

Indonesia

Captain
Bonit Wiryawan

Players




Suwandi Suwandi (Pictured)

Bonit Wiryawan
Elbert Sie
Prima Simpatiaji

Kuwait

Captain
Khaled Al Foudari

Players

Mohammed Ghareeb
Mohammad-Khaliq Siddiq
Ahmad Muhammed
Ali Ismaeel

GROUP II RELEGATION PLAY-OFFS
Winners remain in Group II in 2008, losers relegated to Group III in 2008

Americas Zone

Jamaica vs Netherland Antilles

The Eric Ball Tennis Centre, Kingston 5, Jamaica
Stadium Capacity: 300
06 April - 08 April 2006
Day 1: 1000 hrs (1500 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1000 hrs (1500 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1000 hrs (1500 hrs GMT)
Surface: Hard (Novacrylic Combination Surface) - Outdoors
Ball Type: Wilson Championship Extra Duty

Jamaica

Captain
Douglas Burke

Players




Ryan Russell (Pictured)
Damion Johnson (Pictured)
Eldad Campbell
Rayne Russell

Netherlands Antilles

Captain
Raoul Behr

Players

Jean-Julien Rojer
Rasid Winklaar
Nick Van Rosberg


El Salvador vs Cuba

Maya Country Club, Santa Tecla, El Salvador
Stadium Capacity: 350
06 April - 08 April 2006
Day 1: 1000 hrs (1600 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1000 hrs (1600 hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1000 hrs (1600 hrs GMT)
Surface: Clay (Red Clay) - Outdoors
Ball Type: Dunlop Championship All Court

El Salvador
Captain
Diomedes Pineda

Players



Rafael Arevalo-Gonzalez (Pictured)
Marcelo Arevalo
Benito Jose Suriano
Jose Antonio Alfaro

Cuba

Captain
Wilfredo Henry-Torriente

Players

Edgar Hernandez-Perez
Favel-Antonio Freyre-Perdomo
Luis-Javier Cuellar-Contreras
Sandor Martinez-Breijo

Asia/Oceania Zone

Pacific Oceania vs Pakistan

National Tennis Centre, Apia, Samoa
Stadium Capacity: 400
05 April - 07 April 2007
Day 1: 1000hrs (2100hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1300hrs (0000hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1000hrs (2100hrs GMT)
Surface: Hard (Acrylic) - Outdoors
Ball Type: Wilson US Open Extra Duty

Pacific Oceania

Captain
Jeffrey Race

Players

Michael Leong
Juan Sebastien Langton
Brett Baudinet
West Nott

Pakistan

Captain
Hamad Ul-Haq

Players

Aqeel Khan
Jalil Khan
Shahzad Khan

Iran vs Hong Kong China

Enghelab Sports Complex, Tehran, Iran
Stadium Capacity: 1200
06 April - 08 April 2007
Day 1: 1000hrs (0630hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1300hrs (0930hrs GMT)
Day 3: 1000hrs (0630hrs GMT)
Surface: Clay - Outdoors
Ball Type: Wilson Double Core

Iran

Captain
Issa Khodaei

Players

Anoosha Shahgoli
Ashkan Shokoofi
Rouzbeh Kamran
Omid Souri

Hong Kong China

Captain
Derek Ling

Players

Hoh-Kong “Henry” So
Hiu-Tung Yu
Xiao-Peng “Michael” Lai
Tsz-Chun “Gilbert” Wong

It’s not easy to get pictures of the men playing here. Please remember that these are in the category of “nominations” so teams are subject to change.

I went this far into DC ties this time to show that countries we think of here in the States as hopelessly mired in war, conflict, poverty or despair are still fielding Davis Cup teams. Something taken for granted in the States and other Western countries is a big deal in countries around the world. Some of the stadiums are miniscule by United States standards but I'm sure fans will be out to support their teams and family members.

It'll be interesting to see which teams move up and which stay in this group and which teams get downgraded.
Good luck to everyone!