India Wins Bronze at Wheelchair Tennis World Team Cup Asia Qualifiers

According to a release, organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the tournament serves as the Asian qualifying pathway to the prestigious BNP Paribas World Team Cup and is widely regarded as the "Davis Cup of wheelchair tennis".

The Indian men's team comprised India's No. 1 Shekar Veeraswamy (World No. 210) and Basavaraj Kundargi (World No. 185) of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu's Karthik Karunakaran (World No. 351).

India began their campaign with a 0-3 loss to the Republic of Korea. Han Sungbong (World No. 46) defeated Karunakaran 6-1, 6-1, while Im Ho Won (World No. 61) beat Kundargi 6-1, 6-2, before Lee Jihwan (World No. 52) and Han Sungbong sealed the tie with a 6-3, 6-2 doubles victory.

The team then suffered another 0-3 defeat against the host nation, Sri Lanka. Lasantha Ranaweera (World No. 63) defeated Veeraswamy 6-2, 6-0, while Suresh Dharmasena (World No. 78) overcame Kundargi 6-0, 6-0. The Sri Lankan pair of Gamini Dissanayaka and Prasanna Wijesirige wrapped up the tie with a 6-3, 6-3 doubles win.

India bounced back strongly with a commanding 3-0 victory over Pakistan. Karunakaran defeated Muhammad Firas (World No. 156) 6-0, 6-0, while Veeraswamy beat Fida Hussain (World No. 173) 6-0, 6-1 before the Indian pair teamed up for another dominant 6-0, 6-0 doubles win.

India then sealed the bronze medal with a clinical 3-0 victory over Chinese Taipei. Karunakaran defeated Tang Chao-Han (World No. 84) 6-1, 6-1, while Veeraswamy overcame Wang Wei-Hsuan (World No. 92) 6-1, 6-2. The pair then defeated Cheng Han-Tsung (World No. 101) and Tang Chao-Han 6-1, 6-0 in the doubles to confirm India's place on the podium.

This podium finish reflects India's growing presence in wheelchair tennis in Asia, with Karnataka players playing a key role in the national team's performance.

Peter Vijay Kumar, coach and captain of the Indian wheelchair team, said, "This is the first time the Indian men's team has finished third and won the bronze medal. The players performed extremely well, showed great coordination as a team and demonstrated tremendous improvement. The Asian zone is the toughest region to qualify for the World Group, so securing a bronze medal here is truly commendable."

In the women's competition, India was represented by India No. 1 Shilpa Kadukothanahalli Puttaraju (World No. 70), India No. 2 Prathima Narayana Rao of Karnataka (World No. 83) and Mubeena Kolakar of Maharashtra (World No. 112).

India opened their campaign against the Republic of Korea, going down 0-3 as Han Inkyung defeated Prathima Narayana Rao 6-0, 6-0, while Park Juyoun beat Shilpa Puttaraju 6-1, 6-1 before the Korean pair completed the sweep with a 6-0, 6-0 doubles win.

India next faced a formidable Chinese side led by Li Xiaohui (World No. 2) and Wang Ziying (World No. 4). Wang defeated Prathima Narayana Rao 6-1, 6-0, while Li Xiaohui beat Shilpa Puttaraju 6-0, 6-1 before the Chinese duo sealed the tie with another 6-0, 6-0 doubles victory.

India came closest to a win in their final tie against Kazakhstan. Zhanat Umutkulova edged past Prathima Narayana Rao 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), while Shilpa Puttaraju kept India in contention with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Aizhan Butimbayeva. However, the Kazakhstan pair of Butimbayeva and Umutkulova clinched the deciding doubles 6-2, 6-7(1), [10-5] to seal a 2-1 win.

Following the Asia qualifiers, the Indian wheelchair tennis team will continue competing on the ITF UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour as they prepare for the next World Team Cup qualification cycle. The tour features tournaments across Asia and around the world, offering ranking points and valuable international competition opportunities.

- ANI