China Remains In Group I After Doubles Victory
The Davis Cup between Thailand and China came to a premature ending yesterday after Sanchai Ratiwatana was forced to retire with cramps against Gong Mao-Xin and Zhe Li during the doubles rubber, sending China to a 3-0 victory and a spot in the Asian Zonal
It was a disappointing but unavoidable destiny for the host team who stood a very slim chance against the powerful China with the visitors already having two points under their belt from the reversed singles on Friday.
The country expected to fight back in the doubles as Sonchat and Sanchai never lost to the Chinese pair in their three previous meets. After play expanded to the fourth set, all of a sudden Sanchai bent down in pain (cramps on right thigh) just in the second game and finally decided to throw in the towels at 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 0-1 and 30-30.
“He felt it since in the third set. But it became worse in the fourth set and it was impossible for him to continue. It was disappointing that we were unable to finish the match otherwise we believe we could come back to win,” said Sonchat.
“It was a close fight and both China and us played really well. We were under great pressure as we fell down 0-2 from Friday,” added Sonchat while Sanchai was not in a condition to give a post match interview.
Thai team captain Paradorn Srichaphan said he was disappointed that Thailand lost this point as Sonchat and Sanchai were Thailand’s best shot to help Thailand escape from a possible whitewash.
“I expected to win this point to be frank. The match was very entertaining and it was disappointing that it had to end this way,” said Paradorn.
“However in overall we are still the underdog. Even we had won today , China would still be the favourite to win.”
Chinese captain Wei Jiang was satisfied that his side scored a victory earlier than he had predicted.
“Sonchat and Sanchai are really doubles team and we are concerned about them from the beginning. They just beat my team from the Asian Games. But my players played really well and stayed focused o n the match. We are happy to remain in the Group I and hope to reach World Group in the future.”
China will stay in Group I next year while Thailand will return to Group II. Despite the results, both nations will play today’s singles reduced to the best of three set.
