New Delhi: The inexperienced Indian side lost both their singles matches in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie against South Korea after debutants V M Ranjeet and Vijayant Malik suffered contrasting defeats here on Saturday.
Debutant Ranjeet lost tamely 1-6 0-6 1-6 in an hour and 23 minutes in the first singles of the first-round tie at the R K Khanna Tennis stadium, however 22-year-old Malik fought his heart out but conceded the second singles against Korean No 1 Suk-Young Jeong due to cramps in his left leg. Malik was trailing 4-6 5-7 0-3 against Jeong, ranked 216 places above him.
Leander Paes, the only top player in the hosts line-up, and Purav Raja will now take on Yong-Kyu Lim and Ji Sung Nam in the must-win doubles rubber tomorrow.
India missed the services of top players, including India’s No. 1 Somdev Devvarman, who had made themselves unavailable due to their differences with the AITA.
By Indian Sports News Network
