India sail into semifinal of Fed Cup
Third seeded hosts made light work of their opponents from Turkmenistan in the promotional play-off tie
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-04-18 00:05 GMT
Hyderabad: The Indian tennis team sailed through to the final round of the Fed Cup Group II Asia/Oceania tournament organised by the All India Tennis Association and Telangana State Tennis Association at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.
Riding on strong performances from Prathana G. Thombare and Ankita Raina, the third seeded hosts made light work of their opponents from Turkmenistan in the promotional play-off tie. India are now one win away from advancing to the Group I of the Asia/Oceania zone.
Prathana beat Jahana Bayramova while Ankita defeated Anastasiya Prenko in straight matches — the tie being a promotional play-off, women’s doubles was not played on the basis of India having clinched the tie in the first two rubbers.Prathana, who has not lost a set in the tourney, dispatched Jahana in 51 minutes to take the first rubber 6-0, 6-2. In the second, Ankita Raina, who had a tough outing against Malaysia’s Jawairiah Noordin on Thursday, had no problems in seeing off Anastasiya in another lop-sided 6-1, 6-2 encounter.
Ankita spent just 52 minutes on court against an opponent, who never looked to be in the game and went down without a fight. Ankita, from Gujarat, hit four aces during the second match of the promotional play-offs. India will take on The Phillippines, who edged past Indonesia 2-1 in a thrilling three-match tie.
The Results
India bt Turkmenistan (2-0): Prathana G. Thombare bt Jahana Bayramova 6-0, 6-1; Ankita Raina bt Anastasiya Prenko 6-1, 6-2.