As Egypt hosts the 2011 Fed Cup qualifiers, Ghada Abdel-Kader investigates its chances for promotion to the Europe/Africa Zone Group II next year Under the supervision of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the Egyptian Tennis Federation (ETF) hosted the Europe/Africa Zone Group II and Group III 2011 Fed Cup. It is considered the world's largest annual international team competition for women . The championship takes place at the Smash Tennis Academy in Cairo, from 2-7 May. Egypt finished joint third in the Europe/Africa Zone Group III in 2010. Turkey and Morocco were promoted to the Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II after beating Egypt. In the opening match, Turkey defeated Egypt 3-0 in Group A. Egypt then defeated Moldova 3-0 in the same group. In the promotional play off, Morocco defeated Egypt 2-0. Tournament Director Hani Nasser said "it is very important for Egypt to host such big events like the Fed Cup." Countries participating in the Europe/Africa Zone Group III are Algeria, Egypt, Ireland, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, South Africa and Tunisia. Iceland and Malta have withdrawn from the competition. The nine teams are divided into two round-robin pools. Group A consists of four teams and group B, five. South Africa, Algeria, Lithuania and Montenegro are in Group A, while Group B includes Norway, Egypt, Ireland, Moldova, and Tunisia. The round-robin of pool A will be played on Monday 2 May until Friday 6 May. The round-robin of pool B will be played Wednesday 4 May until Friday 6 May. On Saturday 7 May, the winner of each pool will play-off against the number two team in the other pool to determine which of the two teams will advance to the Europe/Africa Zone Group II in 2012. All the remaining nations, except the nation at the bottom of Pool A, will play against each other to determine the final positions within the group. In the Europe/Africa Zone Group II, the participating nations are Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Finland, Georgia, Morocco, Portugal and Turkey. Liechtenstein withdrew from the competition. It has the same format as Group III as it is divided into two round-robin pools. Group A is consisted of three teams, while Group B is made up of four teams. The round-robin stage will be played on Wednesday 4 May until Friday 6 May. On Saturday 7 May, the winner of each pool will play-off against the number two team in the other pool to determine which of the two teams will advance to the Europe/Africa Zone Group I in 2012. The nation in fourth place in Pool B will automatically be relegated to the Europe/Africa Zone Group III in 2012. The nations in the third place in both pools will play off against each other to determine which other nation will be relegated to the Europe/Africa Zone Group III in 2012. The Egyptian team consists of four players: Menna , Mayar El-Sherif, Magi Aziz and Mai El-Kamash. El-Sherif was winner in the under-16 girls' singles event and runner-up in the under-16 doubles event in the African Junior Championship 2011. Both El-Kamash and El-Sherif are junior players. Technical Director of the Egyptian team, Nael Zaki, said about the preparation of the Egyptian team: "We made a quick training camp for three weeks. Also, the women players participated in two championships, the Shooting Club tournament and the Smash Tennis Academy championship." "Currently, the Egyptian team has no ranking in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA)," Zaki said. "Egypt's player had a world ranking. She was going to participate in championships in Egypt, but due to the 25 January revolution, all these championships were cancelled. When she did not defend her points, her ranking was dropped. She should at least play three championships to have her ranking back. El-Kamash is 124th and El-Sherif 351th in ITF's ranking," he explained. "Also, running championships abroad is much easier than in Egypt. Our players are not totally devoted to professionalism in tennis like players abroad. We do not have this culture in Egypt. A tennis player needs to play between 15 or 20 championships a year to improve her ranking." "The level of the tournament is very high. Most of the participating nations have players with WTA ranking. Their ranking is between 500 and 600. You can have good players but they are not ranked. This does not mean our players cannot defeat them," added Zaki. "This year, our players' performance is much better than last year. We cannot predict the results. I think we will manage in the singles, but the doubles matches will be the key to our success in this tie." ITA's Referee Massimo Morelli told Al-Ahram Weekly : "It is not my first time in Egypt. I have been in the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup and I will be in future events. The level of organisation is, as always, very good. It is very competitive and I am very happy to be assigned for this tie. I feel everything is being done. I am sure it is going to be a great competition." Assistant Research Officer for the International Tennis Federation ( ITF ) Scott Over said: "I feel confident to hold this championship in Egypt. The ITF has made several security analyses through separate agencies. The result is that we will be safe here in Egypt. The venue is near the airport. The hotels are very close by. It is very close to a compact complex. So, I do not see any safety issues." About Egypt's chances, Over said: "Egypt has good chances to be promoted. I saw Egyptian girls in ITF's junior events. I worked with them in the past as the under-14 touring teams. I do not see why they cannot go up or be at least in the top two and go for promotion."
