Sania`s return, easy group enhances India`s chance at Fed Cup
Bolstered by the return of ace
player Sania Mirza and drawn into a relatively easy Group,
India would aim to re-enter Group I when the Asia/Oceania zone
Fed Cup tournament here on Wednesday.
|Last Updated: Feb 02, 2010, 10:47 PM IST|Source: Bureau
Kuala Lumpur: Bolstered by the return of ace
player Sania Mirza and drawn into a relatively easy Group,
India would aim to re-enter Group I when the Asia/Oceania zone
Fed Cup tournament here on Wednesday.
India have been grouped with hosts Malaysia and Singapore
that do not boast of any top-class player.
Winners of both the pools competing in the Asia/Oceania
zone Group II will clash in the play-off tie to decide which
nation is promoted to Group I. India will play their first
rubber on Thursday.
India were relegated to Group II last year after being
blanked 0-3 by Taiwan in play-off tie of women`s team event.
Sania had pulled put of the tournament in 2009 citing an
abdominal injury and also did not play in 2008.
Now that she is back with the team and the opponents are
weak, India coach Enrico Piperno says they have a good
opportunity to get back to Group I from where they can strive
to earn a place in the World Group.
"Absolutely we have a chance. The team is quite
motivated. We are in the right group. Kyrgyzstan and Hong Kong
are on the other side. This is best we can expect.”
"I am quite confident since Sania is back with the team.
She wants to play and help India get back to Group I. There is
experienced Rushmi (Chakravarthy) and Sanaa (Bhambri) is also
there. The team is excited," Piperno told reporters.
Piperno also believes that personal setbacks would not
affect Sania`s on-court performance as she recently ended her
engagement with Sohrab Mirza.
"Not at all, she is upbeat and quite keen to play. She
has been practising hard for the last three days. The whole
team practised in two sessions everyday," Piperno said.
The coach also said that youngster Poojashree Venkatesha
will get her debut.
"Poojashree will definitely make her debut. She played
well on the domestic circuit last season. I am looking forward
to her good debut," he said.
The selectors had rewarded Poojashree for her brilliant
performance last year, in which she won four ITF Futures
titles out of five finals.
Veteran Rushmi Chakravarthy, experienced Sanaa Bhambri
and young Ankita Raina and Shivika Burman are the other
members of the squad.
Last year, Inda lost all their four ties to be relegated,
and Sanaa says Sania`s absence played a role in that.
"All the teams had at least one top-100 player in their
ranks. But we did not. It is important to have top player to
give fight and that`s why we lost last time. It was not
unexpected," she said.
Sanaa said the team has prepared well as they flew to
Malaysia after attending a Commonwealth Games preparatory camp
in Pune.
"The Commonwealth Games camp has given us all good
practice. Last year we went without practice. So we are hoping
of doing well. We had matchplays, played doubles and also had
kick-boxing sessions which helped in stamina building and
improving flexibility," she said.
PTI
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