Indian women’s Tennis team earned their second win in Billie Jean King Cup 2024 Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie after beating Chinese Taipei 2-1 at the Moon Island Clay Park in Changsha on Thursday.
The contest proved to be an intriguing one as both teams picked up a win each in the singles clash. However, in the doubles encounter, the Indian duo of Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombare edged past Chinese Taipei to take valuable points.
It was Rutuja Bhosale who gave India an early lead in the singles. Ranked 379 in the world, Bhosale beat Hao-Ching Chang 6-3,6-2, finishing the game in an hour and 21 minutes.
India’s best-ranked women's player in Tennis, Ankit Raina, however, couldn’t replicate a similar performance as she lost to En Shuo Liang, Chinese Taipei’s top singles card at world No. 289.
Ankita began the proceedings nicely, winning the first set comfortably. But Liang fought back and pushed Ankita aside in the next two sets, eventually, winning the game 6-2,4-6,4-6.
With both teams picking up a win, the doubles encounter proved to be the decisive one. Both teams dished out their best possible combination, with both Ankita and En Shuo, once again, facing each other in the third match of Billie Jean King Cup 2024.
While Raina paired up with Prarthana Thombare, the Chinese Taipei team consisted of Chang and Liang.
It was the Chinese Taipei duo who took the early lead, winning the first set 4-6. However, the Indian pair came storming back, leveling the scores in the second set, and eventually, took the game into a super tie-breaker.
Ankit-Prarthana duo won the game 4-6, 6-1, 15-13 and, thus picked up their second win in three games.
India sit third in the Billie Jean King Cup 2024 standings
The win against China has lifted India to third on the Asia/Oceania Group I standings, accumulating two wins in three matches.
Meanwhile, China and the Republic of Korea are comfortably sitting in first and second positions, respectively. Chinese Taipei and Pacific Oceania are yet to win a match in the Billie Jean King Cup 2024 tournament and, currently, hold the bottom two spots on the table.
The Indian team are slated to play their next match of the Billie Jean King Cup 2024 against Korea on Saturday. They need to finish in the top two spots to qualify for the playoffs. The bottom two positioned teams will be relegated to Group II for next season.
