Sania loses, Japan beat India 2-1 in Fed Cup

Hua Hin, Feb 5: Tennis star Sania Mirza suffered a shock defeat in the women’s doubles as India went down 1-2 to Japan in their second match of the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I at the True Are Hua Hin here. In the opening singles match in Pool A, World No.206 Eri Hozumi defeated 523th ranked Prartha G. Thombare of India 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday. In the next singles match, No.307 Ankita Rai stunned No.56 o Hibino 6-3, 6-1 to level things up 1-1. India had a great chance to beat Japan with doubles’s World No.1 Sania in their team. But in the fil encounter, Sania and Prartha lost 5-7, 3-6 to the pairing of Shuko Aoyama and Hozumi to hand over the match to Japan.

India, who lost to hosts Thailand 0-3 on Wednesday and are out of the reckoning for the play-offs for the World Group II. India will take on Uzbekistan in their last Group engagement later on Friday. In the other Pool A match, Thailand beat Uzbekistan 3-0 while in Pool B Chi defeated Korea Republic 2-1 and Chinese Taipei defeated Kazakhstan 2-1. IANS