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India book Fed Cup berth
April 23, 2003 14:42 IST
India booked a Group 1 berth in the Asia-Oceania zone of the Fed Cup women's team tennis competition after winning all its Group 2 matches at Ariake Park Tennis stadium in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday.
In the final round of the regional qualifiers, India defeated Pacific Oceania 2-1 to claim the top spot in the group.
Sixteen-year-old Sania Mirza beat Gurianna Korinihona 6-2, 6-0 and the experienced Manisha Malhotra accounted for Maylani Ah Hoy 6-3, 6-2 in the singles encounters.
The doubles combination of Isha Lakhani and Megha Vakharia conceded a walk-over to Irene Geroge and Korinihona and caught the early flight home in the afternoon.
The top two teams from Group 2 replace the two bottom-placed teams in Group 1 in the next year's edition of the Fed Cup.
The Philippines take on Kyrgyzstan in the group's final round match on Thurday.
The former have a 1-1 win-loss record and a win will give them promotion to Group 1 along with India.
Kyrgyzstan lost both their matches so far while Pacific Oceania, who completed all their engagements, have won one match and lost two.