SHENZHEN, CHINA: India have put themselves in the driving seat at the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Zone Group II event in Shenzhen, China, after maintaining their perfect start to the competition with victory over Oman. Having opened with a 3-0 win against Iran on Monday, India followed this up by recording the same scoreline against Oman, although their opponents on Tuesday did cause them a few more problems.
Isha Lakhani comfortably beat Maliha Al-Awaidy 61 60 in the first rubber, but Rutuja Bhosale was then forced to come from behind to defeat the higher ranked Fatma Al Nabhani 16 75 64 in 1 hour 50 minutes. The result put India into an unassailable lead and the whitewash was complete when Oman conceded a walkover in the doubles rubber.
India now sit top of Pool B with two wins, with Philippines emerging as their closest challengers. After a rest day on Monday, Philippines began their campaign with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Iran on Tuesday. Turkmenistan, who sat out on Tuesday, are also in contention win one win.
Pool A is wide open with four teams all on one win each. Hong Kong, China opened their account on Tuesday by defeating Sri Lanka 3-0, while Pakistan got off the mark with a 2-1 victory over Singapore. Kyrgyzstan and Singapore both recorded wins on Monday, although Sri Lanka are yet to get off the mark.
The round-robin action continues on Wednesday as the nations continue their bid to reach Saturday’s promotion play-off, which will see the two group leaders go head-to-head. Asia/Oceania Zone Group I, which will be taking place simultaneously at the same venue, gets under way on Wednesday.
Click the link below for more information about Asia/Oceania Zone Group II, including individual results from each tie.
- Asia/Oceania Zone Group II