New Delhi, April 10 India enjoyed a dominant performance, defeating Mongolia 3-0 while losing only one game, as Zeel Desai secured a straight-set win on her Billie Jean King Cup singles debut against 15-year-old Anu-Vjin Gantor, before Sahaja Yamalapalli followed suit in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie on Friday.
Zeel decisively defeated her opponent 6-0 6-0 in just 37 minutes, before Sahaja trounced 32-year-old Jargal Altansarnai by an identical scoreline in 42 minutes at the DLTA Complex.
Later, Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale dominated Khongorzul Aldarkhishig and Jargal Altansarnai 6-1 6-0, completing the rout.
For the home players, it was more of a casual practice session, as the unranked opponents did not pose a significant threat.
India will face Korea on Saturday, the final day of the competition, in their last outing of the tournament, and the hosts are likely to retain their place in Group I. For India to reach the playoffs, they need Indonesia to defeat Korea and then secure a 3-0 win themselves on Saturday.
The defeat against Thailand put India in a precarious position, as it jeopardized their chances of finishing in the top two. The top two teams in the six-team event will progress to the playoffs, while the bottom two will be relegated to Group II.
"We're not going to dwell on that (Thailand defeat). For us, it's important that we go out and beat Korea tomorrow. Whether we make it to the playoffs or not is secondary, but I think there are some young players on this team who definitely could benefit from the experience of beating a team like Korea," India skipper Vishal Uppal said after the tie.
"There's no point in dwelling on what happened. We lost to Thailand. And from Ankita and Rituja's perspective, it's a crucial year. It's the Asian Games year, and they will likely face the Korean team in the Asian Games. So, playing and beating them would be a good opportunity," Uppal added.
"We lost, so now we move forward and focus on what's ahead of us, rather than what's behind us. We learn from the past and then move on," he continued.
Vaishnavi Adkar's defeat in the opening singles against Thailand was unexpected, and she admitted that it was more about nerves than external factors.
"I think it was more about the mental aspect than the external conditions. It was my first time playing on such a big stage, and I didn't handle my nerves well," she said.
Considering Gantor's inexperience, who has only won one game so far in the tournament, Uppal didn't mind playing Desai, giving her some match practice.
"Whatever the captain decided was a good strategy, and yeah, we discussed specific things to work on before going on the court, and it felt good," said Zeel, who played a doubles match against Latvia but competed in a live singles rubber for the first time for India.
Clearly, the unranked Gantor is not yet ready to compete at this level. She has a lot to learn, but such defeats can also be demoralizing. Putting an inexperienced player at this level might have been due to a lack of options.
Gantor barely won any points on her own. She only scored a point when Zeel made an unforced error.
The Mongolian teenager seemed to lack the will to fight, instead resigning herself to defeat. She struggled to return the balls consistently, as they kept going out of the lines, making the match a lackluster affair.
The India camp won't complain, considering that they need to win this tie against Mongolia and against Korea on Saturday to somehow keep their chances of reaching the playoffs alive.