Dubai: Indonesia proved to be the pick of the lot with a fluent second victory, while China and India continued their smooth flow on the third day of the Asia/Oceania Group I Fed Cup by BNP Paribas at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, on Thursday.
Winners on the opening day against Chinese Taipei, Indonesia had fallen against current outright leaders China on the second day. But on Thursday, the Indonesian youngsters were at it again with a 3-0 result against Uzbekistan to record their second triumph of the week.
China, meanwhile, did not have many issues to solve except in the dead rubber doubles where they dropped a set, but came through for their third straight 3-0 win. Saisai Zheng had powered her way to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Ya Yi Yang before Qiang Wang eased her way past En Shuo Liang 6-3, 6-3.
Shuai Peng and Yi Fan Xu then came and stuttered a bit before a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Ya Yi Yang and Latisha Chan to complete their battle for full points.
Sania Mirza made her return into the squad have a telling effect as she teamed up with Ankita Raina in the deciding doubles to secure a narrow 2-1 win against South Korea and keep India’s chances alive for a possible spot in the play-offs.
China now have a cent per cent match record of 9-0 after three days followed by Indonesia, India and South Korea with identical 5-4 records. Chinese Taipei is in fifth with 3-6, while Uzbekistan is yet to open their account with a 0-9 record.
In Friday’s encounters, China will take on winless Uzbekistan, Chinese Taipei will tackle India and Indonesia will be up against South Korea. Saturday will be the final day of the round-robin contest with the top two teams advancing to the play-offs scheduled for April, while the fifth and sixth placed teams will contest the Asia/Oceania Group II in 2021.
Results
China bt Chinese Taipei 3-0: Saisai Zheng bt Ya Yi Yang 6-1, 6-2; Qiang Wang bt En Shuo Liang 6-3, 6-3; Shuai Peng/Yi Fan Xu bt Ya Yi Yang/Latisha Chan 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
India bt South Korea 2-1: Rutuja Bhosale bt Su Jeong Jang 7-5, 6-4; Ankita Raina lost to La-Lae Han 4-6, 0-6; Sania Mirza/Ankita Raina vs Na-Lae Han/Na Ri Kim 6-4, 6-4.
Indonesia bt Uzbekistan 3-0: Priska Madelyn Nugroho bt Nigina Abduraimova 6-0, 6-4; Aldila Sutjiadi bt Akgul Amanmuradova 3-6, 7-5, 6-4; Priska Madelyn Nugroho/Aldila Sutjiadi vs Yasmina Karimjanova/Sitora Normuradova 6-1, 6-3.
