India have qualified for the playoffs only twice before (2021 and 2025). Uppal is confident the girls will do it again
Team India with coach Vishal Uppal (centre) in New Delhi. Pic/PTI
Vishal Uppal, India’s captain for the Billie Jean King Cup, which will be held at New Delhi’s DLTA Stadium from April 7 to 11, has admitted that the Indian women have a tough task as they look to qualify for the playoffs from Group 1 as all the other teams are extremely strong.
Group 1 comprises India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Korea Republic, Mongolia, and Thailand, who will compete in a round-robin format with the top two teams qualifying for the World Group playoffs in November. “All the teams in Group 1 are strong, so it’s very tough. You can’t even take Mongolia lightly because they’ve reached here which means they’ve done something right. Indonesia and New Zealand have heavy-hitters in their ranks, and Korea and Thailand are always dangerous,” Uppal, a former India Davis Cupper, told mid-day recently.
The Indian team will be represented by Vaishnavi Adkar, Sahaja Yamalappalli, veteran Ankita Raina, doubles specialist Rutuja Bhosale and Zeel Desai, who was picked as a last-minute replacement for the injured Shrivalli Bhamidipaty.
India have qualified for the playoffs only twice before (2021 and 2025). Uppal is confident the girls will do it again. “We’re preparing well. We’re just going to focus on getting ready for the competition. The goal is always to qualify for the playoffs again, but we’re going to keep that aside and just focus on playing our best tennis,” added Uppal, 49, who believes India women’s game is on the right path.
“We’ve shown in the last five years by qualifying twice for the playoffs that Indian women’s tennis is heading in the right direction. We need to build on this. The girls are doing a good job and that’s my focus. We must keep pushing our limits,” Uppal signed off.
02
No. of times India have qualified for the World Group playoffs in the last five years — in 2021 and 2025
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