New Delhi: The Indian Fed Cup team capped off a successful Asia/Oceania Group I tournament as they booked their berth in the Fed Cup playoffs for the first time in the history.
India won four back-to-back matches in the tournament to finish second and thus, promoted themselves into the play-offs where they will meet Latvia on April 17-18.
In the opening rubber, Rutuja Bhosale, suffered an upset defeat against her 16-year-old unranked Indonesian opponent Priska Madelyn Nugroho 3-6, 6-0, 3-6.
With team India’s back against the wall, it was the top-ranked Indian, Ankita Raina (160), who chose the most appropriate time to win her singles rubber to make it 1-1.
Raina had fallen short in the previous two singles rubbers in the tournament but on the final day, she won in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 against Aldila Sutjiadi.
In the deciding doubles rubber, India once again fielded their most successful and experienced pairing of Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina.
The Indonesians were up to the task as they fought hard in the opening set and stretched it to a tie-break before the Indian pair eventually won it 7-6.
However, the Indians were determined to not have any more drama in the match and breezed to a 6-0 in the second set and won the tie 2-1 to book their ticket to the play-offs.
In Fed Cup history, India’s best performance came in 2006 when they finished as runners up.