Indian girls finish third

India finished third in the Asia-Oceania girls' qualifying tournament for the World junior (under-14) tennis event, at the Gelora Senayam tennis stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday, and secured a spot in the 2002 World Junior tennis finals, which will take place in Prostejov, the Czech Republic, during the week of August 12, 2002

India defeated Indonesia 2-1 in the play-off for the 3rd/4th place. Earlier, they went down to top seeds China 1-2 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

India No. 2 Sandhya Nagaraj lost her match 4-6, 1-6 to Nancy Metriya, but Sanaa Bhambri easily defeated Gusti Ayu Kd Fani Damyanti 6-1, 6-3 to even the scores.

Bhambri then teamed up with Sandhya Nagaraj in the doubles to beat Gusti Ayu Kd Fani Damyanti / Nancy Metriya 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2 to win the tie.

Top seeds China defeated New Zealand 2-1 to win the event.

Four teams, New Zealand, Indonesia, India and China qualified from the Asia-Oceania group. The Czech Republic, as host nation, has automatically qualifed for the finals.

The 2002 World Junior tennis finals will take place in Prostejov, the Czech Republic, during the week of August 12.

Earlier, last week, the Indian boys qualified from the Asia-Oceania group for the finals.