The Davis Cup makes its debut here when eight nations including hosts UAE clash in the Asia/Oceania Group IV competition from April 25. The UAE seems to have a good chance of advancing to Group III from Group IV where they have been playing for a while now.

The Abu Dhabi Airport Golf Club will be the venue of the tournament held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Chairman of Department of Abu Dhabi Civil Aviation.

"We at the Department of Civil Aviation believe that we should support the efforts of UAE nationals to participate in international sporting events such as the Davis Cup, which is why we are hosting this event. I hope that this tournament will prove to the world that the UAE and other GCC countries' teams are able to compete on an international level," Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak said.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Dr. Abdullah Bilhaif Al Nuaimi, Director of Engineering and Maintenance, ADCA and Member of the UAE Tennis Association said that apart from the UAE, Iraq, Fiji, Oman, Pacific Oceania, Brunei, Jordan and Bangladesh will be taking part.

Last year Saudi Arabia and Bahrain got promoted to Group III.

The UAE have entered one of the youngest teams in the history of the Davis Cup with the four players named aged all 19 and below. This is in keeping with UAE's tradition of records in the Davis Cup.

Hadi Badri is still the youngest player to figure in a Davis Cup match and current ace Omar Behroozian, who at 14 years 71 days became the youngest player to win a match in Davis Cup.

The UAE team for the tournament consists of Omar Behroozian (19 yrs), Mahmoud Nader, Mohammed Abdula Aziz Nuaimi, Ghanem Al Hassani and Khaled Al Ali (captain).

The tournament will be played with the teams being divided into two groups and meet each other in a league. The top two from each group will advance to the semifinals.

The rubber will be decided on best of three with two singles and one doubles being the format.

Group A consists of Bangladesh, Oman, Fiji and Iraq while hosts UAE, Brunei, Jordan and Pacific Oceania are in Group B. Swede Anders Wennberg will be the referee and the umpire will be Iraq's Ali Katebi.

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Airport Golf Club has geared up for the event with the new additional tennis courts ready. In fact, the club has prepared for this event by organising the GCC tournament for Under-12 and under-16.

All five floodlit tennis courts were used in that tournament held in October last year.

Dina El Korety, Marketing Officer of Abu Dhabi Duty Free said the organisers are working round the clock to ensure the first-ever Davis Cup tournament here is a success. "All facilities are in place and we are just waiting for the action to begin," she said. "We have also organised buses for transport for tennis fans during the tournament," El Korety added.

Starting from today, the organisers will be conducting a six-day course for line umpires. Those interested can contact the Club to avail of the course. Over 40 are expected to attend the course.