Date:30/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/30/stories/2008093056982100.htm

Sport - Cricket

India loses to Russia

NEW DELHI: Yuki Bhambri won his singles match with ease, but India lost 1-2 to Russia in the match for the third place in the Junior Davis Cup World Group under-16 tennis tournament which concluded at San Luis Potosi, Mexico, on Sunday.

It was a commendable effort by Yuki as he dismissed Mikhail Biryukov 6-0, 6-4 in the second singles, after Saurabh Singh had lost tamely to Richard Muzaev 1-6, 0-6.

In the doubles, Yuki and Saurabh won the first set but could not sustain the momentum. Yuki dropped serve at 5-6 in the second set to let the match slip into the decider. In the third set also, Yuki dropped his serve in the second and sixth games.

“Both our players tried hard to get back into the match, but it was for the first time in the whole tournament that the pair could not play its best doubles,” said Kawaljeet Singh, the captain of the team.

The United States had the distinction of winning the titles in both the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup. Incidentally, it became the first country to win all the four junior titles in the same year, as it had won the under-14 boys’ and girls’ titles last month.

The results:

Third place: Russia beat India 2-1 (Richard Muzaev bt Saurabh Singh 6-1, 6-0; Mikhail Biryukov lost to Yuki Bhambri 0-6, 4-6; Muzaev & Biryukov bt Saurabh & Yuki 4-6, 7-5, 6-3).

Final placings (top 10): Junior Davis Cup: 1. U.S., 2. Argentina, 3. Russia, 4. India, 5. Sweden, 6. Australia, 7. Brazil, 8. Hungary, 9. Peru and 10. Britain.

Junior Fed Cup: 1. U.S., 2. Britain, 3. Hungary, 4. Belarus, 5. Uzbekistan, 6. Poland, 7. Serbia, 8. China, 9. Holland and 10. Chile.