Tennis:Ireland beat 2-1 Malta in their opening Pool A match of the Federation Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group III round robin event in the Golf El Solaimaneyah Club outside Cairo in Egypt.
Victories for Amy Bowtell and Sinead Lohan mean that the Irish girls could afford to lose the doubles where Jenny Claffey and Lynsey McCullough were beaten in three sets. Ireland are grouped alongside Morocco, Armenia, Malta and Kenya. Pool B features Egypt, Tunisia, Lithuania, Moldova, Cyprus & Namibia.
The winners of each pool play off against the runners-up of the other pool to decide which two nations are promoted to Europe/Africa Zone Group II in 2013. Ireland will play again on Wednesday morning.
Result
Ireland 2 Malta 1:
Sinead Lohan defeated Elaine Genovesse 6-4, 1-6, 6-2; Amy Bowtell defeated Roseann Dimech 6-0, 6-2; Dimech/Genovesse defeated McCullough/Claffey 7-6, 4-6, 7-5