Thai beat Indonesia 4-1 in Davis Cup

Thai beat Indonesia 4-1 in Davis Cup

Associated Press, Bangkok

Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan won the match rubber on Sunday to seal Thailand's victory over Indonesia in their Davis Cup Zone Asia/Oceania Group I playoff.

Paradorn, world ranked 56, fended off a challenge from Indonesian underdog Prima Simpatiaji, taking his reverse singles match 6-2 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (6) in three hours.

The win gave the hosts a 3-1 victory, making the Sunday's other singles match, in which Thailand's Sanchai Ratiwatana defeated Sunu Wahyu Trijati 7-6 (4), 6-2, irrelevant.

With the victory, Thailand secured its place in Group I for next year, while Indonesia will be relegated to Group II.

Paradorn took solid control at the beginning of his match but produced a flurry of unforced errors in the second and fourth sets. He saved three set points at 3-6 in the fourth set tie break and stuck it out for the win.

"He played well and I did not get used to his ball speed. So it became a longer match than I'd expected. But it was experience that pulled me through the fourth set," he said.

In Auckland, New Zealand, Lee Hyung-taik beat New Zealand's Mark Nielsen 6-2, 7-6 (8), 6-3 in Sunday's reverse singles to give South Korea a 3-2 victory in the playoff.

Lee won all three of his matches in straight sets to clinch the Group Two final and give South Korea promotion to Asia- Oceania Group I for the next Cup season.

Rubin Statham beat Kim Sun-yong 6-4, 6-4 in the final singles, too late to save the match for New Zealand, which will play in Group II again next year.

Lee beat Dan King-Turner 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in Friday's opening singles and combined with Kwon Oh-hee to beat Nielsen and King- Turner in the pivotal doubles.

Nielsen won his opening singles 0-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 5-2 over I'm Kyu-tae who was forced to retire in the final set after sustaining a leg injury.