Billie Jean King Cup (previously Fed Cup) - India

[sameerph]

Yes, after missing those 2 tie points in second set, Ankita-Karman were down 3-5 in the third set but won the next 4 games to pull off the win for us.

[D] Ankita Raina / Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) d. Peangtarn Plipuech / Nundnida Luangnam (THA) 64 67(6) 75

This win ensures that we at least do not have to play the relegation play off match.

But, got to see how much Ankita and Karman have left in the tank after more than 2 hours singles matches for both and more than 2 hours doubles match too. Not having much hope against Kazakhs tomorrow.

[gbelday]

Matches started today but did not have a match today. In our group Kazakhstan easily Thailand today.
We play tomorrow against Thailand in our first match. Hope it ends in an easy win.

This is a nice photograph of our team at an official dinner with Indian high commissioner in Kazakhstan -

Nice, thanks to Vatsal and Vishnu for getting this arranged, I think! They’ve been instrumental lately in drumming up support from our consulate and embassy folks.

[Atithee]

Nice, thanks to Vatsal and Vishnu for getting this arranged, I think! They’ve been instrumental lately in drumming up support from our consulate and embassy folks.

Kudos Vishnu and Vatsal. Great work.

[sameerph]

Yes, kudos to Vatsal and Vishnu. They are doing great work with ITD these days. Not seen much of them on forum these days. Come and post on forum too once a while guys.

[meyyis]

Against the Khazaks, Karman goes down in straight sets 3 & 2 against Diyas. Ankita is up next against Putintseva.

[jayakris]

Yes, kudos to Vatsal and Vishnu. They are doing great work with ITD these days. Not seen much of them on forum these days. Come and post on forum too once a while guys.

Yes, I too hope to see them more here....

[meyyis]

Ankita lost 1-6, 6-7 against WTA-43 Yulia Putintseva. Afetr being blown away in the first set, Ankita recovered and fought valiantly in the secondset trading 3 breaks each with Yulia. In the tie-break after being level till 4-4, Ankita lost a point on her serve and Yulia converted the next 2 points on her serve to win the tie- break 7-4.

[arjun2761]

Yes, Ankita is a real fighter in Fed Cup play and she often punches above her weight. Hopefully, Karman will start doing that as well...

[sameerph]

Yes, decent fight by Ankita and a better show by Karman too in this match. Now, we play Korea today in the third place playoff.

[meyyis]

Against Korea,

Mahak Jain replaces Karman, however she went down in three sets.

Mahak Jain (IND) l. Na-Ri Kim (Kor) : 2-6, 6-3, 1-6

Upto Ankita now to bail out India again.

[meyyis]

and she does it once again.

Ankita Raina (IND,165) d. Sunam Jeong (KOR,582) : 6-3, 6-3

[jaydeep]

Karman was injured so that cost us a match ... In the doubles, Ankita lost partnering Prarthana against the Koreans.
So we ended the campaign with a loss and finishes on the 4th position.

At The Fed Cup - the Asia-Oceania Group-1 2019, Astana, Kazakhstan

India l Korea 1-2

[S1] Mahak Jain (IND,518) l Na-Ri Kim (KOR,593) 26 63 16
[S2] Ankita Raina (IND,165) bt Sunam Jeong (KOR,582) 63 63
[D] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l Su Jeong Jang (KOR)/ Na-Ri Kim (KOR) 46 46

[jayakris]

We finished 4th after losing the doubles to Korea...

Ankita Bhambri/ Prarthana Thombare l. Su Jeong Jang/ Na-Ri Kim, 46 46.

[sameerph]

I think like davis cup, we need 2 top 100 singles players to have a chance of moving up from the Asia Oceania group to world group.

In both men and women, Australia, Japan and Kazakhstan ( with their Russian imports), appear the best teams by far. China is a clear fourth in women. We are somewhere in 4th-6th position in men along with Korea, Uzbekistan and 5th-7th in women along with Korea and Thailand.

[ornatebrute]

Agree with the men. But in women, a fully justified Chinese team should always be inside World Group with few top 50/100 and plenty of top 200 players. And without the Hsieh/Chan rivalry and now with EnShuaoLiang, Chinese Taipei is clearly above us too. Thailand will be a clear threat if Luksika plays and with upcoming batch of 15/16yr olds. Indonesia/Pacific Oceania also have good players coming up, but our junior pool got stagnant after a promising 2017.