So near and yet so far for India

As Japan were shocked by Thailand, we were under the impression that we still had to play Japan in the doubles (the doubles had not been played when we went 0-2 down in our tie against Japan earlier on). After a rain-washed Wednesday, organisers had decided to end the rubber if any team took a 2-0 lead. But then the International Tennis Federation (ITF) referee, Wayne McKwean pointed out the Fed Cup rules when two teams are tied. First, the number of ties won was to be calculated and then the number of matches won and if the teams are still tied, then the percentage of sets played and sets won would be calculated to determine the team advancing.

So even if we beat Japan in straight sets in doubles, our percentage would be 0.75 and Japan would be 0.76, so we lost our chance of going through to the final by 0.01 per cent, surely less than a hair’s breadth.

It was indeed such a disappointing feeling, but there was little we could do. So, we had to be content with the achievement of finishing second in Pool A ahead of Thailand.

Coming back to the matches, we had an easy time against Hong Kong. After Sai Jayalakshmy beat Lee Chan 6-2, 6-4, I defeated Ka Po Tong 6-1, 7-5. Then in the doubles, Manisha and I beat Lee Chand and Po-Keun Lam 6-3, 6-2 to finish the tie without losing a set.

Thailand were on fire today. After Japan took the lead with a 6-1, 6-0 win from Shinobu Asagoe over Napaporn Tongslee of Thailand, Tamarine came out on court. She was up against Sugiyama and played a brilliant match. Tamarine arced to a 5-0 lead before Sugiyama could even get into her stride. The set was over 6-1. Sugiyama seemed to be under pressure playing in front of her home crowd. Then she went into unforced errors and ended up losing the match 1-6, 3-6.

Tanasugarn then teamed up with Benjamas Sangaran as they rallied to beat Sugiyama and Nana Miyagi 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

In Pool B, China recorded their fifth straight win despatching Taiwan 3-0 to top their group. Li Na gave the Chinese a fine start with a fluent 6-2, 6-0 win over Tai Lan-Lan and Yi Jinggian clinched the tie when she beat Janet Lee 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in two-and-a-half hours.

The Taiwanese pair of Tai and Tsai Ya-Fang conceeded the doubles match with the Chinese pair of Li Fang and Li Na leading 3-0 in the first set. Indonesia with four wins and a loss and Taiwan with a 3-2 record take the second and third positions in the group while winless Hong Kong and Singapore were relegated to Group II.

Both India and Japan finished the league with three wins and one loss in the five-team group. In their four matches, Japan won a total of 19 sets and lost four, while India won 16 sets and lost six. That straightaway puts them ahead of India.

But if India had played the doubles, which had not been played on Wednesday once Japan took a winning 2-0 lead, the situation would have been:

(a) If Japan lost the doubles two sets to one, India would have win-lossrecord of sets at 18-7 and Japan would be 20-6 and the percentage of sets won from sets played would be 0.72 for India and 0.796 for Japan, moving Japan into the final.

(b) If Japan lost the doubles two sets to love, India would have a win-loss record of sets at 18-6 and Japan would be 19-6 and the percentage of sets won of sets from sets played would be 0.76 and for India it would be 0.75. Japan still moves into the final.