India's decision to rest star player Sania Mirza in the opening match itself against Indonesia backfired as they lost 1-2 in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 Federation Cup tournament in Bangkok on Wednesday.
AITA won't force any player to travel to Pakistan and is willing to send even a second-string team to avoid suspension
Ankita also shrugged off poor umpiring to emerge a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 winner in two hours and 25 minutes against a player, who was ranked as high as 27 last year and had beaten top-10 players.
Somdev Devvarman recorded his first Davis Cup win to keep India afloat in the second round tie against Chinese Taipei as both the teams were locked 1-1 on the opening day of the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I tie in Kaohsiung (Chinese Taipei) on Friday.
India were on Saturday relegated to Group II of the Asia/Oceania zone after their humiliating 0-3 defeat against Chinese Taipei in the Fed Cup play-off tie here.
The Indian team badly missed Sania Mirza as it made a horrendous start to the Fed Cup, losing 0-3 to New Zealand in their opening Group I tie of the Asia/Oceania zone in Perth on Wednesday.
John Fitzgerald has been reappointed non-playing captain of Australia's Davis Cup squad for 2008 despite failing to keep the 28-times champions in the World Group. Australia lost their place in the elite World Group for the first time since 1991 when they lost a relegation tie against Serbia in September.
Five-times Davis Cup champions Spain will host Britain in the first round of the 2018 competition.
Indian captain Leander Paes went down in a close contest against Satoshi Iwabuchi, while Mahesh Bhupathi surrendered tamely against Kei Nishikori as Japan closed the margin to 2-3 in the Asia Oceania Davis Cup round II tie in New Delhi on Sunday. Paes lost 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 to the left-handed Iwabuchi in a dramatic fifth rubber after Bhupathi had folded to a 5-7, 1-6 defeat against Japan's no.1 Nishikori.
The start of the third day of the Asia Oceania Davis Cup round two tie between India and Japan has been delayed due to light showers in New Delhi on Sunday. Play will start at 1030 IST, the organisers said. Having already sealed the tie 3-0 on Saturday, India will field veteran doubles duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in the reverse singles.
In a match that sowed the seeds of dissention in the Indian team, Pakistan's Aqeel Khan thinks he would have always liked to play the fifth rubber against Leander Paes in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania relegation play-off tie in Mumbai in April 2006.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna beat Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov in the Group 1 Asia/Oceania Davis Cup match.
Honours were even at the end of the opening day in the Asia-Oceania Group I Davis Cup match between India and Uzbekistan after Rohan Bopanna won the first singles.
Somdev Dev Varman will be looking to repay the team's faith in him when he makes his Davis Cup debut for India against Uzbekistan.
India were relegated to the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone group II after top seeds Australia blanked them 3-0 in their third and final group I match in Bangkok on Friday.
India were beaten 1-2 by New Zealand in their second match of the Asia/Oceania Group I Federation Cup match in Bangkok, on Thursday.
The Indian team suffered a double blow as they lost their the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 Federation Cup opener to lowly opponents Indonesia 1-2 and star player Sania Mirza, yet to recover from her hamstring injury, rendered unfit for next pool tie.
Yashwant Sinha expressed displeasure over Rohan Bopanna's decision to opt out of the upcoming Davis Cup tie.
The source said logistics became a big issue for almost all the participating countries.
India have been seeded third in Group I of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania zone. They have been given a bye in the first round before taking on the winner of the match between Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan in the second round, scheduled from March 6 to 8, 2009.
Increased investments in traditional manufacturing sector helped India surpass South Korea to become Asia's fourth largest FDI recipient in 2006, a UNCTAD report said.
Paes' inclusion under cloud as Indian team readies for a shake-up
Indian girls went down 0-3 to Thailand in the Asia/Oceania Zone of the World Junior tennis.
Tara Iyer and Ankita Bhambri blanked their opponents as India beat Jordan 3-0 in the Fed Cup.
Brazil coach Tite has recalled veteran central defender Thiago Silva to his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela.
Leander Paes and sunil Kumar Sipaeya will team up for the doubles in the match against Uzbekistan.
Vivek Shokeen and Somdev Dev Varman were named in the team to face Uzbekistan the Asia-Oceania Group 1 first round away tie.
All India Football Federation (AIFF) chief Praful Patel is hopeful of establishing fruitful relations with new FIFA president Gianni Infantino and work towards the development of the game in the country.
'We are not interested in forfeiting the tie. We look forward to working with the ITF to find a solution that guarantees the safety of all the players'
In its endeavour to bring more fans to the stadium for watching the Indian Davis Cup team in action against formidable Spain, the DLTA has decided to conduct the World Group Play-off tie this month under flood-lights with singles matches starting at 5 in the evening.
The Indian under-14 girls' team qualified for the finals of World Junior tennis competition after blanking Uzbekistan 3-0 in a quarter-final match of the Asia/Oceania zone qualifier in Delhi.
India entered the semis of the World Junior Tennis Competition after routing Hong Kong 3-0
She helped India recover from an early deficit and edge out hosts New Zealand 2-1 in their third rubber of the Fed Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Qualifiers.
Denis Istomin beat Rohan Bopanna in a marathon five-setter to draw Uzbekistan level in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Group I tie.
He marked his return to the Davis Cup arena with an emphatic win as India tied Kazakhstan 1-1 at the end of first day's play.
Sania Mirza returned to the court to save India from demotion as India beat Hong Kong 2-1 in the Federation Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I relegation play-off on Saturday.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan will lead the singles challenge, while Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will make the doubles pair for the grass court tie.
World Cup final referee Howard Webb has been included among the 25 who were named by FIFA on Wednesday for this year's tournament in Brazil.
India's Davis Cup captain said there is no dearth of talent in the country and the immediate task is to mould the fresh crop into strong singles players.
India went down 1-4 to Uzbekistan in the Asia-Oceania Zone Group I Davis Cup match.
