Fed Cup: Ankita Raina wins, but India lose 1-2 to China

India's Ankita Raina

A fired-up Ankita Raina produced a stunning performance under pressure to shock World No. 120, Lin Zhu, but that was not enough as India lost the Fed Cup tie against China 1-2 on the opening day of the Asia/Oceania Group 'I' competition here yesterday.

Playing with a lot of passion and energy, the 253rd-ranked Ankita came out with relentless hitting to catch Lin by surprise and beat her higher-ranked rival 6-3, 6-2 on the centre court at the RK Khanna Tennis stadium. This was after Karman Kaur Thandi, 19, lost the first match 2-6, 2-6 to World No. 125 Yafan Wang.

Later, Ankita came back to play the decisive doubles with Prarthana Thombare, but the Indian pair was no match to the combo of Wang and Zhaoxuan Yang, World No. 31 in doubles, as it went down 2-6, 6-7(1) to lose the tie. The Indians were not sharp enough, lacked coordination and missed several chances.India next play formidable Kazakhstan, who blanked Hong Kong 3-0, in a must-win tie today.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here

Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go