Uzbeks pulverise second-string Indians

Having already voiced the verdict that, 8220;Tara still has a long way to go and Ankita needs to grab every opportunity to its fullest,8221; during the week, Saturday8217;s show only confirmed coach Enrico Piperno8217;s opinion.

At Christchurch, India not only lost for the first time to Uzbekistan in their three meetings till date, but also to a team who were without their more accomplished players 8212; Iroda Tulyagnova and Akgul Amanmuradova. Uzbekistan fielded Dilyara Saidkhodjaeva No 913 and Albina Khabibulina, who was making her maiden Fed Cup appearance.

Both Dilyara, just 17, and Albina, who is 20 days short of her 15th birthday, were clinical against Ankita. Albina, who is unranked, with her 6-4, 7-6 3 win gave Tara ample reason to give the loss a hard thought,particularly when both debutants signed off in contrasting fashions.

While Albina finished with a 4-0 W/L record on a surface that is not her favourite, Tara8217;s record was 2-1.

On the other hand, Ankita, who has 13 appearances in four years with the team, was bottled by an opponent who was playing her 10th match in her second year. A 6-4, 6-4 loss to the Uzbek was inexcusable, for it only suggests that our second string is not even good as the junior level.

8220;I said before the start that our priority was to stay in the group and I am happy we achieved that,8221; Piperno said. 8220;I would say we played to our potential. It was unfortunate that we had some injury problems.8221;