Junior Davis Cup: India goes down to New Zealand, finishes 10th

The Indian boys were beaten 2-0 by New Zealand for the ninth place in the Asia Oceania Junior Davis Cup under-16 tennis tournament.

India had lost to Hong Kong and Japan in the league, and had beaten Indonesia and Malaysia in the play-off for minor placings. (Representational pic)

The Indian boys were beaten 2-0 by New Zealand for the ninth place in the Asia Oceania Junior Davis Cup under-16 tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Saturday.

India had beaten New Zealand for its only victory in the league phase. However, Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli, who came in for Sashank Theertha, lost the opening rubber. Sacchitt Sharma, who had recovered from a precarious position in the league match against George Duncan Stoupe, lost rather tamely this time after winning the first set in the tie-break.

India had lost to Hong Kong and Japan in the league, and had beaten Indonesia and Malaysia in the play-off for minor placings.

Japan prevailed by the strength of its strong doubles combination as it beat Australia 2-1 for the title. The top four teams from the 16 countries which competed here, Japan, Australia, ChineseTaipei and China made it to the World Group Finals to be played in Budapest, Hungary, in September.

The results (final): Japan bt Australia 2-1 (Keisuke Saitoh bt Stefan Storch 6-1, 6-3; Fumiya Hoshino lost to Rinky Hijakata 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Tomoya Ikeda & Fumiya Yoshino bt Ken Cavrak & Stefan Storch 6-4, 6-4).

Ninth place: New Zealand bt India 2-0 (Chris Wei Sheng Zhang bt Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli 6-4, 6-4; George Duncan Stoupe bt Sacchitt Sharma 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0).

The final standings: 1. Japan, 2. Australia, 3. Chinese Taipei, 4. China, 5. Korea, 6. Hong Kong, 7. Thailand, 8. Uzbekistan, 9. New Zealand, 10. India, 11. Indonesia, 12. Singapore, 13. Philippines, 14. Kazakhstan, 15. Malaysia, 16. Syria.