New Delhi: Vaishnavi Adkar faces a trial by fire on his Billie Jean King Cup debut as the Sahaja Yamalapalli match at the DLTA complex in New Delhi on Tuesday was disrupted by heavy rain. Thailand led India 1-0 in their Asia/Oceania Group 1 match when heavy downpours halted play permanently.Yamalpalli was broken at the worst possible moment before the break and Pacharin Chipchandji will be looking to close out the match at 4-3 in the third set when play resumes early on Wednesday.The first game of the five-day round-robin BJK Cup started more than three hours later than scheduled due to rain. Adeka lost to Anchisa Chanta 1-6, 3-6.In a contentious match that saw the non-playing captains of both teams protesting to the umpire over a dodgy call by the line judge, No. 384 Yamarapalli gained space with some powerful kicks and a stiff Cheapchandej to bring the score back to within one.Vishal Uppal, the 25-year-old non-participating captain, complained about the calls on two separate occasions: first in the first set when the ball was ruled out of bounds, and second when the referee overturned a service call.Uppal complained to the referee and then called his supervisor. However, his plea was not heeded and the decision remained unchanged.Sahaja, who has never tasted success in the BJK Cup and has proven her efforts with a 0-7 record, will now be looking to turn things around after a lackluster performance in the final match before heavy rains set in.
In the first match of the day, India’s top-ranked player Adekar was swept out by Shanta in just 73 minutes. The 21-year-old looked stiff and nervous from the start and was broken after double faulting in the first game.That was still the theme in the first set, as she double-faulted three times and had her first serve easily beaten by the 442nd-ranked left-handed Thai player.It took Adekar 27 minutes to get his first set, and less than 10 minutes later, the first set was sealed.Adeka started the second set well, breaking the 23-year-old’s serve, but the joy did not last long. The Thai player then won four consecutive games, including 16 of the next 19 points.The young Indian tried to mount a comeback to bring the score to 4-3, but her last-ditch effort to create an opening was quickly ended in the last and final game.After the singles action resumes at 11 am on Wednesday, Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale will be responsible for keeping the doubles action tied. India’s second match of the day will be against New Zealand.Day 1 BJK Cup Asia/Oceania Group 1 Draw ScoreIndia 0-1 Thailand (suspended due to rain)Indonesia 2-0 New Zealand* (suspended due to rain)South Korea 3-0 Mongolia
