Fed Cup : India go down fighting to China despite Ankita Raina’s win

The team had hopes high going into the tournament as they were looking to prove a point and gain as much experience as they could. However, their first match ended in disappointment as they lost to China 1-2. Karman Kaur Thandi lost the first match 2-6 2-6 to world number 125 Yafan Wang after she looked sloppy on the court and lacked coordination that ultimately cost her the match. Karman, coached by Aditya Sachdeva, lacked variety and tactics to tackle her wily opponent, who has played Grand Slam qualifiers.

But in a dramatic turn of events, Ankita Raina showed tremendous passion and energy, as the 253rd- ranked player came out guns blazing and caught Lin Zhu of China by surprise and beat her higher-ranked rival 6-3 6-2 on the centre court at the R K Khanna Tennis stadium. Lin did pile on some pressure on the young Indian but Ankita kept the lead with her and closed out the final set in her favour in the ninth game of the match.

India take on strong Kazakhstan in their next match, who blanked Hong Kong 3-0 in a must-win tie on Thursday. The winners of the two Pools will clash against each other to qualify for the World Group Play-off.