The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Japan rallies to defeat India

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Monday, Apr 12, 2004

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Sport - Tennis

Japan rallies to defeat India

OSAKA, APRIL 11. Takao Suzuki and Goichi Motomura posted reverse singles wins on Sunday as Japan came from behind to defeat India 3-2 in their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I clash.

Suzuki defeated Prakash Amritraj 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 at the Utsubo Tennis Centre in Sunday's first match while Motomura sealed the Japanese win with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Leander Paes.

After winning the doubles rubber on Saturday, India held a 2-1 lead in the second round tie, but it wasn't enough to hold off the host nation, which advanced to September's ties for possible World Group qualification.

``This was a great win for us,'' said Motomura. ``It's been a while since we beat India and we were a little worried coming into today's match. But the entire team played well and we got a lot of support from the fans.''

Sunday's victory marked the first time Japan has beaten India in Davis Cup play since 1930.

Motomura, who defeated Amritraj on Friday, cruised through the first two sets before Paes came to life and forced a tiebreak.

Motomura took a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak. Paes tied it up but Motomura broke serve once and then won with a brilliant crosscourt forehand.

``That's probably the best tennis I've ever seen Goichi play,'' said Paes. ``His groundstrokes were fast and accurate, his serve was excellent and he executed better than I did.''

Paes had to play all three days and said the heavy schedule was a factor. ``I was two steps slower in my match today and it showed,'' said Paes. ``I've been away form the game for eight months and it's tough to play on three straight days.''

In Sunday's first match, Suzuki built up a comfortable lead and then won the third set with a lob over the head of Amritraj to close out the match in 2 hours and 14 minutes.

``We knew we had our work cut out for us today,'' said Suzuki. ``But the team played great and it's always nice when you can come back like that.''

Amritraj struggled with his serve and double faulted 10 times.

Paes, who had never lost to Motomura before, called the loss one of the toughest of his Davis Cup career. ``As the captain of the team I have responsibility so it was one of the toughest,'' said Paes. ``We were up 2-1 and had the pressure on them but they did what they had to do.''

4-1 win for Thailand

In Bangkok, Thailand lost the first reverse singles match but won the second against Uzbekistan on Sunday to finish with a 4-1 victory in their Group I second round tie.

Sarvar Ikramov won the first point for Uzbekistan at the BEC-Tero Hall, overcoming a slow start to beat Sonchat Ratiwatana 7-6 (3) 6-0 in 68 minutes.

Sonchat's twin brother, Sanchai, then stamped the Thai authority over the Uzbek team, winning a marathon contest against Murad Inoyatov 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7) after nearly 2-1/2 hours.

Thailand had won the tie on Saturday with a victory in the doubles rubber, which followed up on its straight wins in the first two singles on Friday.

Thailand has reached the qualifying stage for World Group promotion for the third straight year. However, it has never moved higher than that level.

``I accept that we are just underdogs compared to other teams in the playoffs,'' said Thai captain Chanachai Srichaphan. ``Right now I can't say much because we still have no idea what country we will have to play in September.''

Korea blanks Lebanon

In Seoul, Jun Woong-sun defeated Patrick Chucri and Kim Young-joon crushed William Farah LeBar in the reverse singles as South Korea beat Lebanon 5-0. Jun won 6-4, 7-5 while Kim downed LeBar 6-2, 6-4.

South Korea had already sealed its berth for the Asia/Oceania Zone Group II final when it took an unassailable 3-0 lead on Saturday. South Korea will now contest the Group II final against China.

The draw for the play-off will be conducted in London on Tuesday. Thailand will play one of the eight World Group first round losers. Uzbekistan will remain in Group I in 2005.

The results (Asia Oceania)

Group I: At Osaka: Japan 3, India 2 [Takao Suzuki bt Prakash Amritraj 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; Goichi Motomura bt Leander Paes 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4)].

At Bangkok: Thailand 4, Uzbekistan 1 [Sonchat Ratiwatana lost to Sarvar Ikramov 6-7 (3), 0-6; Sanchai Ratiwatana bt Murad Inoyatov 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2)].

Group II: At Busan: South Korea 5, Lebanon 0 [Jun Woong-sun bt Patrick Chucri 6-4, 7-5; Kim Young-joon bt William Farah LeBar 6-2, 6-4].

At Nanjing: China 5, Kuwait 0 [Yu Xinyuan bt Abdullah Magdas 6-4, 6-3; Li Jingyi bt Ahmad Rabie Mohammed 6-0, 6-3].

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