Junior Indian Davis Cuppers make World Group after 5 years

Siddhant Banthia and Adil Kalyanpur registered identical wins as junior Indian Davis Cup team qualified for the World Group after five years with a 2-0 win over Australia in the third-place Play-off here today.

Siddhant tamed Thomas James Bosancic 6-2 6-4 in the first singles and Adil sealed it for India with his win with the same score-line against Alexander Crnokrak.

With India sealing the third place finish in the AsiaOceania zone, the doubles rubber was not played. Adil and Megh Patel were to feature in the dead rubber.

China and Japan were the other teams to qualify for the World Group.

India had lost to China (1-2) and Japan (1-2) while it beat Indonesia (3-0) Korea (2-1) and Thailand (2-1) in previous matches.

AITA President Anil Khanna announced a cash award of Rs 1 lakh each for all five players, including reserves –- Abhimanyu Bannenreddy and Suresh Dhakshineswar.

"It's a kind of scholarship for the kids. They have done well and we are happy to reward their performance," Khanna, who is also ITF Vice President, said in a release.

India coach and captain Vishal Uppal was ecstatic with his players' performance.

"Honestly, we could have won the zone but we lost very close matches to China and Japan. They are top teams. Nobody gave us a chance but our boys showed that they were really good. The players fought their hearts out," Uppal, himself a former Davis Cupper told PTI.

"I am extremely delighted with the team chemistry. The reserve players played a great part in team preparations. And Megh Patel was a big bonus for us. I took a risk to combine him with Adil but it really paid off in doubles. He brought a lot of energy in the side."

Uppal said the boys had good exposure since AITA was doing an "exceptional job" by organizing a lot of competitions.