Kamal Ghorui
New Delhi: Indian team were expected to have an easy time against Mongolia in the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie in New Delhi on Friday and that proved to be the case. Non-playing captain Vishal Uppal rung in the changes with focus firmly on the tie against South Korea on Saturday.The action moved from Centre Court to Court 1; Zeel Desai took court in the singles department alongside Sahaja Yamalapalli while Vaishnavi Adkar partnered Rutuja Bhosale in the doubles, allowing Ankita Raina time off.
The result, as expected, was a triumphant 3-0 win with only one game dropped across the three matches. That has been the case for the Mongolian team this week who have suffered 19 bagels (0-6) and clinched only five games.“It was good to play Mongolia today, which gives us a little bit extra time to recover for tomorrow because tomorrow is going to be a tough battle. It always is against Korea,” said Rutuja who is expected to continue teaming up with Raina in the doubles on Saturday.“I think Vaish [Adkar] and Sahaja, I mean, all of us are ready. We know what to expect. And yeah, I think it’s going to be a good day and a challenging day, and I think we’re ready for it,” she continued.Uppal maintained that even if India don’t progress to the next round in the competition, a win against Korea would be a massive boost for the young team.“There are some young players on this team who definitely could use the experience of beating a team like Korea. And from Ankita and Rutuja’s standpoint, you know, it’s a big year. It’s (an) Asian Games year. And they probably will go up against the Korean team in Asian Games. So playing them and beating them would be good,” he explained.Mathematically, India’s odds of qualifying for the playoffs for the second straight year look slim, even if they beat South Korea. Their fate rests in the hands of Indonesia and Thailand, both of whom have beaten India and have the head-to-head advantage if teams finish tied.
