China inflicted a second straight 3-0 defeat on the Indian women's tennis team at the Billie Jean King Cup 2022 Asia/Oceania Group I in Antalya on Wednesday.
India on Tuesday had lost to Japan by 3-0. Against China, world No. 463 Riya Bhatia started the tie at the MTA Tennis Academy's clay courts.
The Indian ultimately failed to put up a challenge against Lin Zhu, ranked 106 in the world, in the singles contest. The 24-year-old Riya Bhatia lost the match 6-1, 6-3 in one hour 23 minutes.
Then world No. 319 Ankita Raina, who is India's top-ranked women's singles tennis player battled it out against 97th-ranked Qiang Wang.
The 29-year-old Ankita Raina went down 6-4, 6-2 in the one hour 28 minutes.
The doubles team of Sowjanya Bavisetti and Rutuja Bhosle then took the court against YiFan Xu and Zhaoxuan Yang for the third rubber. Sowjanya-Rutuja valiantly fought in the opening set but could not keep up the momentum in the second, losing 7-5, 6-1 in one hour 22 minutes.
Apart from China, Japan and South Korea also recorded their second victories of the week on day two at the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group I event.
After 3-0 victories for all three nations on the opening day of play on Tuesday, none of the teams let the momentum slip on Wednesday, with all three again recording whitewash wins to cement their positions at the head of the group.
China overcame India, Japan cruised to victory against Indonesia, and South Korea eased to a comfortable win over New Zealand. But something will have to give on Thursday when China and South Korea go head-to-head in a tie that will undoubtedly be crucial in determining which nations will earn promotion to the play-offs in November.
Japan take on New Zealand on Thursday, while India face Indonesia with both nations looking to get their first win on the board this week. The top two nations competing in Asia/Oceania Group I will advance to the Play-offs, while the bottom two will be relegated to Group II for the 2023 season.
( With inputs from ANI )
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