Federation Cup | Ankita Raina Wins Twice In India's 2-1 Triumph Over Thailand

India averts off an unexpected scare from the lower-ranked Thailand as Ankita Raina of India won both singles and doubles match to lead to a 2-1 win in their Fed Cup opener, in Astana on Thursday.

India's Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi performed brilliantly towards the end marked off a win for India in their Fed-Cup opener. India was 0-1 down after Thandi lost her singles match to Nudnida Luangnam 2-6, 6-3, 3-6. Thandi’s loss has shocked the Indian team as her opponent was ranked 500 places below the Indian.

However, Raina’s fighting 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 win over Peangtarn Plipuech kept India alive in the tie. After losing a nervous tiebreaker, Raina regained her poise to thump Plipuech in the second and third sets.

With scores 1-1, the doubles became the conclusive and captain Vishal Uppal fielded both the singles players. Then, she combined with Thandi to clinch the tiebreaker. The Indian pair missed two match points at 6-4 in the second set tie-break, after it had trailed 1-5 in that set. But Raina and Thandi bounced back from 3-5 in the decider, winning the last two games at love to seal the victory.

The combination of Ankita and Karman had battled hard for 2 hours and 38 minutes to go past the fighting combo of Peangtarn and Nudinda 6-4 6-7(6) 7-5 in a thriller.

After the match, Raina told that she knew her opponent was tricky. She has beaten her and lost to her as well. More than her opponent she had to fight mentally the cold which she did not like and is really happy that she has passed her own test.

Uppal emphasized on how India did not play to its potential but showed a great fight back.

After the match, Uppla told in an interview that Thailand played exceptionally well but they dug deep to beat them. Their lapse in concentration made their task tougher.

She added that Karman was not at her best in the match and Ankita also played patchily. In the doubles, they went from almost winning at 6-4 in the tie-break to almost losing 3-5 in the final set.

India will be playing the next play hosts Kazakhstan on Friday.

By: Aishwarya Sharma

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