Luksika helps Thailand put down Taiwan
Thailand rebounded from their defeat to Japan on Wednesday with a 2-1 win over Taiwan in the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium in New Delhi yesterday.
The Kingdom’s No.1 Luksika Kumkhum won both her singles and doubles matches as Thailand revived hopes of maintaining their Group 1 status.
Patcharin Cheapchandej lost the opening singles against Lee Pei-chi 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 before Luksika evened the tie with an easy 6-0, 6-1 win over Hsu Chieh-yu. The 99th-ranked Luksika then teamed up with Peangtarn Plipuech to beat Hsu Ching-wen and Lee Pei-chi 7-5, 6-2 in the decisive doubles.
Favourites Japan picked up another 3-0 win against South Korea yesterday for a perfect 6-0 win-loss record in Pool B. They also beat Thailand 3-0 on the first day.
Thailand (2-4) and South Korea (3-3) face off in a crucial tie today as they fight for the runners-up spot which guarantees Group 1 status.
Winless Taiwan (1-5), who lost to the Koreans 3-0 on the first day, are bottom of the pool. They play Japan in the last pool match today.
Kazakhstan (6-0) led Pool A after two 3-0 wins, followed by China (4-2), India (1-5) and Hong Kong (1-5).
“The tie against Taiwan today was very tough. The players gave everything to win the tie in order to ease the pressure on the team,” said Pol Col Vassa Vassanon, assistant team manager.
“Credit to all the players especially Luksika who got two points for the team.”
“We have another tough tie tomorrow against South Korea and we have to win that one,” he added.
The winners of each pool take on each other to determine which nation will advance to the World Group 2 play-offs in April.
The third-placed teams from each pool will play off against the nations finishing fourth in the other pool. The two losers will be relegated to Asia/Oceania Group 2 next year.