India outclass Uzbekistan 4-1

India’s place in the World Group Play-offs, to be held in September, was secured once a 3-0 lead was grabbed on Saturday in the Asia/Oceania Group I second round tie. The team was eyeing a whitewash but fell short in the second reverse singles’ match. 

Ramkumar Ramnathan continued India’s domination of the home tie by outclassing Sanjar Fayziev 6-3 6-2 in just 67 minutes in the first reverse singles at the KSLTA stadium. 

Left-handed Prajnesh Gunneswaran, though, had a hard battle at hand against the big-serving 406th ranked Ismailov. Ismailov negotiated the conditions much better than Fayziev and emerged a deserving 7-5 6-3 winner in the second reverse singles.

Both the players served big but debutant Prajnesh buckled under pressure in crucial moments and that made a difference to the outcome of the match.