Billie Jean King Cup | India has a romp against Mongolia, keeps alive chances of making the playoffs

India stamped its dominance with a 3-0 win against minnows Mongolia in the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group I tie, to keep its chances of advancing alive by the barest of margins, here on Friday.

Playing on Court 1 after three days of action on Centre Court, India had little trouble wrapping up the proceedings in less than three hours.

Double bagel

Zeel Desai, put in by captain Vishal Uppal for match practice, drubbed 15-year-old Anu-Vjin Gantor 6-0, 6-0 in just 37 minutes for a winning start to her Billie Jean King Cup debut.

Sahaja Yamalapalli followed suit, taking five minutes more for her win against the 32-year-old Jargal Altansarnai by an identical scoreline. With Ankita Raina rested, Vaishnavi Adkar teamed up with Rutuja Bhosale to complete the formalities 6-1, 6-0 in 48 minutes as the matches had lesser intensity that even a casual hitting session.

For Zeel, who pulled out of an ITF semifinal to join the Indian side at the last minute, it was a walk in the park.

The few points that her opponent did manage were more due to errors from Zeel than her own efforts, sending the ball flying in all directions and barely able to garner enough strength for a decent return.

It was the same story in the other two matches with the Mongolians barely staying in the match.

The Indians wouldn’t complain, though, given the importance of every game, set and match to have any mathematical chance of staying in the race.

The quick wrap up will not only give the players time to recover but also an increased confidence before the crucial tie against Korea on Saturday.

India is currently fourth in the six-team competition with only the top-two advancing. Thailand improved its chances with a 3-0 win against New Zealand even as the unbeaten Indonesia went top of the table with a 2-1 win against Korea.

The results:

India bt Mongolia 3-0 [Zeel Desai bt Anu-Vjin Gantor 6-0, 6-0; Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Jargal Altansarnai 6-0, 6-0; Vaishnavi Adkar & Rutuja Bhosale bt Khongorzul Aldarkhishig & Anu-Vijn Gantor 6-1, 6-0].

Thailand bt New Zealand 3-0 [Anchisa Chanta bt Aishi Das 6-2, 6-3; Patcharin Cheapchandej bt Valentina Ivanov 6-2, 3-6, 7-5; Thasaporn Naklo & Kamonwan Yodpetch bt Monique Barry & Valentina Ivanov 6-4, 6-1].

Indonesia bt Korea 2-1 [Priska Madelyn Nugroho lost to Dayeon Back 5-7, 6-3, 2-6; Janice Tjen bt Eunhye Lee 6-2, 6-2; Aldila Sutjiadi & Janice Tjen bt Dayeon Back & Eunhye Lee 6-4, 6-3].