UZBEKISTAN will take on the Philippines in the first-round relegation tie of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I from April 11 to 13.

The regulation tie will again be hosted by the Philippines.

Uzbekistan was relegated to the tie with the Philippines after the Uzbeks lost to India, 3-2, in their tie in the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium in New Delhi over the weekend.

The Philippines, which was swept by Japan, 5-0, also over the weekend at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center, and Uzbekistan are in a must-win situation for them to keep their slots in Group I.

RP nonplaying team captain Martin Misa said the Uzbeks are a formidable opponent being a former Russian republic. He added they prefer playing on faster courts.

To neutralize the Uzbeks, Misa said the tie would probably be held at the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) shell courts. India, he said, hosted Uzbekistan on grass, a much slower court.

Uzbekistan and the Philippines met in 1997 in a Group I second-round relegation playoff in what was to be their only Davis Cup confrontation so far. The Uzbeks won, 5-0, against Michael John Misa, Joseph Lizardo, Robert Angelo and Rolando Ruel Jr. in Tashkent.

“We still have two months left to prepare, and we’re hoping to get all the support we needed for our players,” said Misa.

Cecil Mamiit will compete in a tournament in Thailand as part of the preparations for the next tie, although plans are up for Patrick John Tierro, who put up a respectable showing against Japan.

Denis Istomin stood as the Uzbeks main man after he beat Somdev Dev Varman of India, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, and Rohan Bopanna, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1), 8-6, in singles.

Wilder West

Remember the good old days when the West was merely Wild?

The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Western Conference passed Even Wilder, broke through Berserk and zoomed off the charts within seven days as the Los Angeles Lakers, who already looked great, got Pau Gasol from a weaker team in the West, and the Phoenix Suns, who already were great, got Shaquille O’Neal.

Hawaiian sojourn

WORLD Cup champions Jennifer Rosales and Dorothy Delasin head to Hawaii to compete in the $1.1-million SBS Open, which fires off on Valentine’s Day, Thursday, at the Arnold Palmer Course in Turtle Bay Resort.

UZBEKISTAN will take on the Philippines in the first-round relegation tie of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I from April 11 to 13.

The regulation tie will again be hosted by the Philippines.

There will be no Santo Tomas U (UST) sweep in men’s volleyball.

This, after Far Eastern U (FEU) put a stain on UST’s clean record in a shockingly short 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 win Sunday in Season 70 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines at the College of Human Kinetics Gym inside the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman campus.

THE Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) has linked up with a new partner in ABC-5, which will air the coming San Miguel Corp.-PSA Annual Awards Night at the SM Mall of Asia.

JAMES Yap is proving to be a lethal weapon, more so when he is a walking wounded.

Despite nursing knee and groin injuries, the former Most Valuable Player still stood out from the rest, prompting the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Press Corps to name him as its Smart-Accel Player of the Week for the period February 4 to 10.

YOU may not know it yet but the most expensive stallion that was bought by a local investor had been bought last November in Maryland.