Australia’s Junior Fed Cup team have mirrored the success of their Junior Davis Cup counterparts to finish on top in the Asia–Oceania qualifying final in New Delhi on Sunday.
The second-seeded Australians – Brooke Rischbieth, Belinda Woolcock and Ashleigh Barty (pic) – also overcame the top seeds Japan in the final just like the Davis Cup team did less than two weeks ago.
Woolcock kicked off proceedings with a three-set win over Japan’s Mami Adachi, 6-2 3-6 6-2 to give Australia a 1-0 lead.
Barty faced a tough task as she dropped the first set against her opponent, Miho Kawase. It was the first set the 15-year-old Australian had dropped all week. But all it did was spur Barty into action. The Queenslander clicked into gear and dropped just two games for the rest of the match as she claimed the rubber 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0.
The win gave the Australians an unassailable 2-0 lead, so the dead rubber doubles was not played. Chinese Taipei defeated Thailand 2-0 for third place.
The Junior Fed Cup team and Davis Cup team now progress to the final, which will be played in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, later this year.
Relegation pay-off result: Malaysia 2 Sri Lanka 1 (Shankari Thayakaran bt Aslina Chua 6-2, 6-3; Choo Lyn YUen bt Vinuri Wicramaratne 6-0, 6-3; Choo Lyn Yuen-Ti Jia Wei bt Dinushki Ranasinghe-Shankari Thayakaran 6-2, 3-6, 6-1).
Final ranking - 1 Australia, 2 Japan, 2 Chinese Taipei, 4 Thailand, 5 South Korea, 6 Kazakhstan, 7 Indonesia, 8 New Zealand, 9 India, 10 Hong Kong, 11 Philippines, 12 Uzbekistan, 13 Singapore, 14 China, 15 Malaysia, 16 Sri Lanka - source: www.tennis.com.au and www.itftennis.com
