Hosts Indonesia shock Thailand
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Thailand's dream of returning to the Davis Cup regional zone Group I were dashed yesterday when hosts Indonesia won the two remaining rubbers to upset the Kingdom 3-2 in their Zone Asia/Oceania Qualifying Group II second round tie at the Gelora Bung Karno
Heading the final day with a 2-1 lead, Thailand needed just one more point from either of yesterday’s two rubbers. They expected a sure point from Danai Udomchoke, who took on old foe Christopher Rungkat.
But just like their previous encounter in the SEA Games final last year, the Indonesian ace played magical tennis to outlast Danai in five sets 6-3 6-2 0-6 4-6 6-1. The match was halted by rain for almost two hours when Danai was up 5-4 in the third set.
Locked 2-2, it all came down to the match between Thai No 2 Kittipong Wachiramanowong and Wisnu Adi Nugroho. The error-prone Kittipong wasted a couple of set points during the first set tie-breaker and lost the decider 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-2.
Thailand will remain in group II next year while Indonesia will meet the Philippines in the final round in September for a promotion to Group I.
