Kuching (Malaysia): Dev Javia pulled through from the brink of defeat but could not stop India from being beaten 2-1 by top seed Japan in the quarterfinals of the Asia Oceania Junior Davis under-16 tennis tournament here on Thursday.
Krishan Hooda lost in the first singles and Javia, playing doubles with V.M. Sandeep, could eke out only four games. Javia had won the second singles between the No.1 players of the two teams as the Japanese retired while trailing 0-2 in the decider after the Indian had turned the match around by winning the second set tie-breaker.
Captain Vishaal Uppal could not hide his disappointment about not finding the fighting spirit in the Indian team, except for Javia.
India had lost the last league match against Korea and lost the chance to make it to the World Group. It next plays second seed China in the positional play-off for fifth to eighth places.
The results (quarterfinals):
Japan bt India 2-1 (Shintaro Mochizuki bt Krishan Hooda 6-1, 6-0; Shunsuke Mitsui lost to Dev Javia 6-4, 6-7(4), 0-2 (retired); Kei Manaka & Shintaro bt Javia & V.M. Sandeep 6-3, 6-1).
