Dubai: China remained the only unbeaten team at the end of the second day of the Asia/Oceania Group I Fed Cup by BNP Paribas at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, on Wednesday.
China brushed aside a youthful Indonesia 3-0 to become the only team with a clean record, while Chinese Taipei had to dig in deep for a 2-1 upset of South Korea.
Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina both clinched narrow wins in their singles as India recorded their first win with a 3-0 result over Uzbekistan following their loss to China in their opening tie on Tuesday.
With three of their five squad members within the top-40 in the world, China were once in total command on the second day with world No.34 Saisai Zheng powering her way to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Janice Tjen. World No.29 Qiang Wang then assured full points for the Chinese with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Aldila Sutjiadi. In the doubles, the combined power of Yifan Xu and Shuai Zhang was too much for teenager Priska Madelyn Nugroho and Tjen as the Indonesians lost 6-1, 6-4.
India got off to a fine start with Rutuja Bhosale fighting her way to a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Akgul Amanmuradova in the first singles. Ankita Raina then settled the Indian squad’s nerves with a gutsy 7-5, 6-1 win against Sabina Sharipova. In the doubles, Mirza delayed her comeback for India one more day as the young pairing of Riya Bhatia and Sowjanya Bavisetti teamed up for a 6-3, 6-1 win against Yasmina Karimjanova and Sitora Normuradova in the dead rubber.
“I think we are headed in the right direction. We’ve got to put that loss to China behind us and continue this winning momentum every single day till Saturday,” India’s captain Vishal Uppal told Gulf News.
“Tomorrow [Thursday] we have South Korea and we’ve got to be mentally ready for them first. After that we have Chinese Taipei who have beaten South Korea and made the math simpler for us. We cannot go too far ahead of ourselves, but just take one tie at a time here on,” he added.
Action will continue on Thursday with China facing Chinese Taipei, India up against South Korea, while Indonesia will take on Uzbekistan on the side courts of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
Results
Chinese Taipei bt South Korea 2-1: Ya Yi Yang bt Su Jeong Jang 6-3, 6-1; En Shuo Liang lost to Na-Lae Han 4-6, 2-6; Hao-Ching Chan/Latisha Chan bt Na-Lae Han/Na Ri Kim 6-3, 6-3.
India bt Uzbekistan 3-0: Rutuja Bhosale bt Akgul Amanmuradova 2-6, 6-2, 7-5; Ankita Raina bt Sabina Sharipova 7-5, 6-1; Riya Bhatia/Sowjanya Bavisetti vs Yasmina Karimjanova/Sitora Normuradova 6-3, 6-1.
China bt Indonesia 3-0: Saisai Zheng bt Janice Tjen 6-1, 6-1; Qiang Wang bt Aldila Sutjiadi 6-3, 6-3; Yifan Xu/Shuai Zhang vs Priska Madelyn Nugroho/Janice Tjen 6-1, 6-4.
