Fanuel Viriri
4 September 2005
TENNIS Zimbabwe have secured four corporate sponsors for the do-or-die Davis Cup tie against Israel, from 23 -25 September.
TZ president, Anne Martin, revealed her association had secured sponsorship from Dairibord Zimbabwe, OK Zimbabwe Limited, Net One and Meikles Hotel.
"We have managed to secure sponsors and we are going to unveil the amounts next (this) week. At the moment, I cannot reveal how much these companies are pouring into our Davis Cup team but they have made a commitment to sponsor," Martin said.
Martin also revealed they would be going into the Davis Cup with a team of three players - Wayne Black, Genius Chidzikwe and Gwinyai Tongoona.
There were indications during past weeks Zimbabwe would field another player but following Byron Black's refusal to come out of retirement, the association has to rely on the players who are readily available.
Wayne, who missed Zimbabwe's last Davis Cup away tie against Serbia and Montenegro in March this year, during which they were hammered 5-0 by the East European country, is expected to lead the team. In the absence of Kevin Ullyett, Zimbabwe will play Wayne in both the singles rubbers and the doubles match, while Chidzikwe will play in the other two singles matches.
It would then be a toss-up between Chidzikwe and Tongoona on who will partner Wayne in the doubles.
A win for Zimbabwe against Israel would see them remaining in the Euro-African Zone Group One, which is a rung below the elite World Group, while a defeat would condemn them to the unfashionable world of the Euro-African Zone Group Two.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe is now ranked 34th on the table of Davis Cup-playing nations.
They are also placed as the second-best team in Africa behind Morocco, who are sitting at number 27, according to the current Davis Cup rankings.
There are 140 Davis Cup-playing countries in the world.
Zimbabwe have 880 points, while Morocco are seven places above with 1 400 points.
Israel, Zimbabwe's next opponents in next month's Euro-African Zone Group One relegation play-off, are occupying 38th place with 760 points.
South Africa are two places behind Israel with 690.9 points and are placed third on the continent.
Zimbabwe are using a makeshift side in the Davis Cup as one of their seasoned campaigners, Kevin Ullyett, is unavailable due to family commitments.
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