By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

PACIFIC Oceania and Pakistan start their relegation playoff round in the 2007 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II tie today at the National Tennis Centre in Apia, Samoa.
The winner in the playoffs, which will run until Saturday, will keep its spot in Group II, while the loser will be relegated to Group III.
The Islanders were put in a must-win situation after bowing to New Zealand in the first round in February, 5-0, at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin.
Pakistan also dropped its first-round assignment losing to the Philippines, 4-1, at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Tennis Center in Manila.
The Pacific Oceania team is composed of the Solomon Island’s Michael Leong , Juan Langton of Samoa, Brett Baudinett of the Cook Islands and West Nott of the Marshall Islands.
It was the same team that played against the Kiwis after the Islanders non-playing captain Jeff Race of the Northern Marianas Islands Tennis Association reconsidered his earlier plan of fielding Samoa player Leon So’onalole in the relegation.
On the Davis Cup website, Pakistan only listed three players. They are Aqeel, Jalil and Yasir Khan. The Pakistani’s non-playing captain is Hamed Ul-Haq.
Race in an earlier interview with the Variety said he liked their chances against Pakistan, as it will be playing without its top player Aisam Qureshi.
Qureshi Aisam, who had a 3-2 record in singles and 1-1 slate in doubles in 2006, missed Pakistan’s first round match against the Philippines. He was playing in a tournament in Europe when Pakistan played the Philippines. Aisam is the Pakistani with the most wins in Davis Cup with 33.
Also not listed in the Pakistan lineup was Shafik Asim, who played against the Philippines.
Aqeel is the only ranked player in Pakistan’s lineup. He is ranked 599th in singles and 856th in doubles. The 27-year old Pakistani is also the most experienced player on the team playing in the Davis Cup since 1998. He has a 19-31 record.
Against the Philippines, he won over Eric Taino in the first singles, but lost to US-trained netter Cecil Mamiit in the reversed singles and in the doubles with Asim as his partner.
Jalil is on his third year in the Davis Cup and has yet to win a game in four matches, while Yasir had his debut against the Philippines and also lost his lone singles match against RP’s John Patrick Tierro.
Today’s matches will start at 10 a.m. (Samoa time). Two singles matches will be played today, while the lone doubles game is set for tomorrow at 1 p.m.
The two reversed singles are scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m.
Unlike the usual Davis Cup schedule, which runs from Friday to Sunday, the Group II relegation tie will run only until Saturday, as Sunday is considered a holiday in Samoa.