New Delhi: India defeated Togo 4-0 in the playoff game of the Davis Cup on Sunday to return back to the way in the World Group 1 on Sunday at the DLTA complex in New Delhi.
After Sasikumar Mukund and Ramkumar Ramanathan won their singles matches on Saturday against Liova Ajavon and Thomas Setodji, respectively, the Indian doubles pair of N Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli were clinical with their effort to beat M’lapa Tingou Akomolo and Hod’abablo Isak Padio 6-2, 6-1 in just 57 minutes to help India take an unassailable lead early on Day 2.
Setodji, who is the only ranked player in the Togo squad, was replaced by Akomolo after the former suffered injury in his right arm during his singles loss to Ramanathan.
“Ram and Mukund gave us a 2-0 lead so there was confidence and also playing with Rithvik by my side, we had a good rapo on the court. The main goal was to not try anything fancy, just stay on the basics and then get us the win and that helped us,” N Sriram Balaji was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Karan Singh’s Impressive Davis Cup Debut
Karan Singh was handed debut in the reverse singles against Padio. The Delhi-based player was impressive in his first Davis Cup after breezing past his opponent 6-2, 6-3 in straight sets. It was the calm and composure shown by Karan that helped him stay ahead in the rallies and was better at controlling the clean and flawless shots hit by Padio, a US Collegiate player.
Instead of India’s non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal, Sasikumar Mukund was seen in the captain’s chair during Karan’s match, where he dropped his serve in the fifth game of the second set. The 21-year-old was a trainee at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) at DLTA.
Both the teams decided not to play the fifth dead rubber as India confirmed their progression to World Group I tie in September this year, although the draw is yet to be confirmed.
India secured a resounding 4-0 victory over Togo in the Davis Cup playoff, earning their return to the World Group I. Sasikumar Mukund and Ramkumar Ramanathan won their singles matches on Saturday.. Karan Singh made an impressive Davis Cup debut in the reverse singles. The fifth rubber was not played as India’s progression was secured. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
