India play South Korea in Davis Cup 1st round tie at home

London: India will host South Korea in a Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I first round tie, which will be held from February 1-3 next year.

In the draw here today, India have been seeded fourth in the Group I while Australia got top billing in the eight-team Group. India had retained its place in Group I after routing New Zealand 5-0 in the play-off tie in Chandigarh last month. The last time India played South Korea was in 2006 when it had lost 1-4 in the away tie. South Korea had suffered a crushing 0-5 defeat against Australia in Brisbane in their last tie. India`s Davis Cup non-playing captain S P Misra was pleased to see his team getting second consecutive home tie. "The home tie is always an advantage. Our boys always play well at home. It`s a good draw for us," Misra said. It will be interesting to see if Leander Paes and Somdev Devvarman play in the tie after skipping the contest against the Kiwis. While Paes had requested to be excused from the tie to play for a club in the US, Somdev had fitness issues. The AITA had also banned Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna for Davis Cup selection till June 30, 2012, for their rebellion against the selection committee decision for the London Olympics. Bhupathi has dragged the AITA to court, which had stayed the ban. The youngsters, led by Yuki Bhambari and Vishnu Vardhan, did well for India in the absence of proven stars although they had to work hard to beat the lower-ranked Kiwis. PTI