NEW DELHI: The initial reaction was of dread when the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, drew India's name alongside the top-seeded China in Pool A of the Fed Cup Asia-Oceania tennis tournament to be played at the DLTA Complex here from Tuesday. But the smiles on the Indian faces returned once they found that Singapore and Kazakhstan with unranked players were also pooled along with them.
Even before she had been given the doctors' clearance or been able to pull her weight on court, the one thought figuring on top of Sania Mirza's mind was to get a seeding for the team with her impressive ranking. In the event, being seeded third proved a big advantage as the other group was eventually packed with stronger teams like Korea, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand along with the second-seeded Australia.
Rankings don't matter
As the Australian captain John Alexander stressed, the rankings do not really matter in the team competition, and every team must be fancying its chance to take the lone spot for the world group play-off to be played in July.
Actually, the zone had two teams making it to the play-off till last year but the fact that three teams from the zone — Indonesia, Thailand and Japan — already figure in the world group meant that the quota was reduced to one this time.
"I am absolutely thrilled with the draw. Since only one team makes it to the play-off, you have to beat the top two teams. It was a question of playing China on Friday or Saturday. I hope Sania is ready. If she is there, anything is possible," said the Indian team captain, Enrico Piperno.
It may not look an ideal preparation to tackle a strong team like China that has two top-100 players apart from the Olympic doubles champions, after playing Singapore and Kazakhstan, but the Indian captain said that it was an ideal situation and would amply serve the team's cause.
"It is all about building your confidence. If we can win the first two matches convincingly, the team will gain a lot of confidence. I think it is all in our favour," said Piperno, even as he agreed that pool `B' was quite tough.
Chance for Shikha
Though the focus may be on whether Sania would play or not after she meets her doctor in Hyderabad on Tuesday, this event may serve as a big stepping-stone to boost the career of the US-based Shikha Uberoi. She had waited for quite some time to represent India, and has been diligently pushing her ranking close to the top-100.
Shikha may have played top class tennis around the world, and impressed the tennis fraternity by qualifying for the US Open last year and teasing Venus Williams in a second round encounter, but she will be accepted more by the Indian fans only if she makes an impact in a tournament like the Fed Cup.
The good thing is that Shikha has been working hard along with the others and may be just ready to play her part to perfection.
Piperno said that he had made up his mind about the doubles combination and was only waiting for Sania's availability to confirm his singles slots.
Ankita Bhambri's foot injury is a cause for concern though the team has the advantage of having Rushmi Chakravarthi playing close to her potential, as she showed in making the singles and doubles final of the $25,000 Challenger last week in Mumbai.
The aspirations of making it to the next stage apart, India can stay safe in Group `I' itself if it beats Singapore and Kazakhstan.
The bottom two teams in the two pools play off for the relegation.
The top two teams from Group `II', from among Philippines, Syria, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will make it to Group `I' for next year.
The opportunity of seeing Olympic gold medallists Ting Li and Tian Tian Sun in action apart, it would have been a lively fare for the local fans, had Australia been able to convince its top player, world No. 9 Alicia Molik to come and play here.
"Alicia Molik opted to play the WTA tour as she believes that she has a chance of becoming world No.1. We looked at it realistically, and we are supporting her. She has promised to join the team for the next game," said Alexander.
The Aussie captain said that he himself was looking forward to the tie between host India and China, as he termed both countries as emerging forces in women's tennis.
Ms. Dikshit, in her address, reiterated the government's stand to support sports and talented players, especially women, in building up the tempo for the Commonwealth Games to be staged in Delhi in 2010.
The tournament will kick off with Group `II' matches on Tuesday. The matches are scheduled to be played from 3.30 p.m. every day and thus heat may not be that strong a factor affecting the chances of the teams.
The Group `I' matches will start on Wednesday with India meeting Singapore. It plays Kazakhstan on Thursday before locking horns with China on Friday.
The top teams from the two pools will meet in the final on Saturday and the winner will make it to the world group `play-off'.
Group `I':
Pool-A: China, India, Singapore and Kazakhstan.
Pool-B: Australia, Korea, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand.
Group `II': Philippines, Syria, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
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