Billie Jean King Cup: Vaidehi Chaudhari and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty keep India in hunt with wins over Taiwan

Lulu Sun and Monique Barry ensured qualification for New Zealand as they won their singles matches against Thailand, for the team’s fourth straight victory in as many matches, in the Asia-Oceania Billie Jean King Cup women’s tennis championship at the Balewadi Stadium on Friday.

Monique Barry beat Patcharin Cheapchandej in straight sets, while Lulu Sun had to sweat it out in three sets against the gutsy Mananchaya Sawangkaew.

While the Kiwis took an unbeatable 4-0 lead at the top of the six-team competition, India stayed in the hunt along with Thailand and Korea, by beating Taiwan.

Vaidehi Chaudhari and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty played with confidence and grit to win their singles matches, to ensure a third victory for India, after its 1-2 loss to New Zealand. In the first singles, Vaidehi allowed the match to meander into the third set against Fang An LIn after being up 6-2, 5-4, and serving for the match.

However, she played strong in the decider to pull through. Shrivalli has been exceptional in this tournament and notched up her fourth straight victory with a high quality fare against Joanna Garland, who had stretched the top-50 Lulu Sun to three sets the previous day.

Serving big and stroking with punch and conviction, Shrivalli dictated the flow of the match, before the powerfully-built Joanna brought the match alive by pushing the second set into the tie-break after having trailed 3-5. Unperturbed, Shrivalli continued to unleash her big game, amidst entertaining rallies, and the few errors, to win 6-2, 7-6(3) over the 207th ranked Joanna.

Thereafter, the doubles was of academic interest, even though every rubber, every set and every game could decide the eventual placings of the teams. India with three wins from four matches may sit pretty next to the Kiwis at the top, but Thailand and Korea, with two wins each so far, have the firepower to rise to the challenge on Saturday.