Indonesia loses to India in Fed Cup

JAKARTA (JP): India brought Indonesia back to earth at the women's Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group One tennis tournament in Bangkok on Thursday with a 3-0 win in their group A match.

Indonesia's second singles choice Irawati Moerid Iskandar, a replacement for out-of-form Liza Andriyani, lost to Uzma Khan 4- 6, 2-6. The Indians settled the issue after their number one player Nirupama Vaidyanathan breezed past Wynne Prakusya 6-3, 6- 2.

India completed the drubbing, a solid partnership of Vaidyanathan and Saijayalakshmy outplaying Irawati and Liza 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).

It was the second defeat for Indonesia, which now must win its last match against Uzbekistan, a 3-0 loser to host Thailand on Thursday. Another defeat will relegate Indonesia to Group Two for next season.

Deputy secretary general of the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) Benny Mailili said he had expected the loss. "But I'm surprised that we were blanked. We should have won the second singles match," he said.

Benny said he could not understand why the team's non-playing captain Yayuk Basuki dropped Liza from the singles match," he said. (yan)