‘Smarter’ India set up Australia showdown in Junior BJK Cup Final Qualifying

Pune: Indian girls set up a quarterfinal clash against Australia after finishing second in their group in the Junior Billie Jean King Cup (U-16) Asia-Oceania Final Qualifying team tennis competition in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, May 13.India went down to China 1-2 in their final round-robin tie in Group 3, which the latter topped with an all-win record. The top two teams from the four groups of four teams each advanced to the knockout phase.China vs Chinese Taipei, Japan vs Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan vs Korea are the other last-eight pairings.India's captain Namita Bal was impressed with the way her team had performed in the league phase, considering it was the first time all the three players were competing on clay."We've been playing some really good singles matches. We've been tactically smarter and the girls have adapted really well to the clay, so coming in early (to Shymkent) has been hugely beneficial," she said. "The first singles loss to China was the one we should have turned around because the doubles was definitely a tougher match. "None of our girls are really doubles players but regardless, we have been clever and played to our strengths and tried to keep them out of their comfort zones. "They are all playing their hearts out."Namita said, given that the players are in their developmental stage, she has tried to make sure they kept learning their lessons along the way and not be overawed by either the opponents or the outcomes."Wins and losses can go either way, but we are focused on what is in our control and we're looking forward to playing our best in the quarters," she said."I'm really proud of the way the team has learnt from every session and every match. "And we are only halfway through the tournament, so no matter what, we are all going home as better, smarter and more versatile athletes."Result: China bt India 2-1 (Jiayi Sun bt Aaradhya Meena 6-2, 6-1; Fangyu Shang lost to Jensi Kanabar 3-6, 3-6; Sun/Jinling Shi bt Jensi/Anandita Upadhyay 6-1, 6-4).