New Delhi, April 12 (). India concluded their Billie Jean King Cup campaign with a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Korea in the Asia/Oceania Group 1 Qualifier at the DLTA Stadium on Saturday. The Indian team finished third among the six nations and retained its place in Group 1, while Thailand and Indonesia secured the top two positions and made it to the next round of the 2026 competition.
In the first singles match, Ankita Raina, who was playing her first singles match this week, faced Daeon Baek of Korea. After losing the first set 6-1, Raina, who is India’s most experienced player in this competition, was leading 5-3 in the second set but came back to win four consecutive games to give Korea a 1-0 lead.
In the second singles match, India’s No. 1 player Vaishnavi Adkar displayed aggressive play to beat Korea’s top player Sohyun Park 7-6, 7-6. After her win, Adkar said, “I think it’s better late than never because the last match that I played was quite tough and didn’t go my way. I had to learn a lot from that and I think I definitely performed better than the last match.”
Adkar also thanked the spectators, who reached the stadium in large numbers to support the Indian team. He said, “Today there was amazing support from the crowd. We had a huge crowd supporting us, which really helped us a lot and there was a lot of positive energy in the team as well. Even though we lost the first singles match, it was very important for us to keep fighting no matter what, because it is always a privilege to play for the country.”
Raina took the court with her partner Rutuja Bhosale in the doubles match, where the Indian pair defeated Baek and Yunhye Lee 6-2, 6-2 and secured a 2-1 win. With this win, India finished the competition with three wins and two losses, and finished third overall, ahead of Korea.
Thailand topped the Asia/Oceania Group 1 standings with a 2-1 win over Indonesia. The match began with Indonesia’s Prisca Madeline Nugroho retiring from the match against Thasaporn Naklo in the first set itself, giving Thailand a 1-0 lead. Indonesia’s Janice Jen, the highest-ranked player in the region at 41st, leveled the tie with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ankisa Chanta.
Since qualification for both teams was already confirmed, Indonesia fielded an alternate doubles pair of Anjali Kirana Junarto and Maydiana Laviola Reinnamah, who lost to Thailand’s Patcharin Chipchandez and Pengtarn Plipuch in straight sets.
In another match, New Zealand defeated Mongolia 3–0 to finish fifth, while Mongolia finished sixth. Both the countries will be sent to Group-2.
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