‘It was a day of missed chances,’ says India coach Vishal Uppal after loss to Indonesia in BJK Cup
New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) India’s campaign at the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group I suffered a setback as they fell 0-2 to Indonesia at the DLTA Complex, a result that head coach Vishal Uppal described as a “day of missed chances” despite a competitive showing from the hosts.
India were pushed onto the back foot after a late fixture change saw them take on Indonesia instead of Mongolia, but Uppal insisted the switch did not disrupt the team’s plans.
“We got to know about it late last night. The referee came and told us that there’s a change and that’s okay. He spoke to all of us, the captains, and that’s fine. We had to play Indonesia either today or tomorrow or whatever. So that didn’t really make a big difference for us. Against Indonesia, it was a day of missed chances. I mean, we had a lot of chances in the first singles match of the day. And had we converted that and really gone up 1-0, the pressure would have been on Indonesia straight up,” he told the media after India’s loss.
In the opening rubber, Vaishnavi Adkar fought valiantly before going down 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3 to Priska Madelyn Nugroho in a tightly-contested three-setter. India’s chances, Uppal felt, hinged on moments like these.
“And even in the doubles, in the second set, we had five set points. And yeah, something just to learn from and grow from, that when you get your chances, you’ve got to convert them. Was there any specific reason given for the change in the fixture or anything like that? No, the referee just told us that there was a technical glitch and they needed to fix the change. But they took us in confidence, so it doesn’t make a difference.
“It’s not like they sprung up with that change with us early in the morning or something. So I mean, that didn’t really make any difference because then we just strategised and figured out what we needed to do against Indonesia,” he added.
The second singles saw Sahaja Yamalapalli struggle against a dominant Janice Tjen, who sealed the tie with a 6-2, 6-1 win. Uppal acknowledged the gulf in consistency at the highest level while stressing the learning curve his players face.
“There’s a reason why she’s world number 40. And I think watching her play, we have to learn on what it takes to get to that level. So I mean, even if you look at Saja’s match, every time Saja remained a little bit more solid, she was in the points and she was actually winning points. But against the top players, you can’t play two good points and then have three or four unforced errors off the mat. That really hurts you. So it’s something to learn from and understand what it takes to get to that level,” Uppal said.
India’s doubles pairing of Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina was also left ruing missed opportunities, particularly after letting multiple set points slip in the second set.
Reflecting on the overall result, Uppal termed it a tough but important learning experience for a relatively young side.
“It’s a tough day. It’s a day of missed chances for us. Had we converted, this could have been a different story. But the reality is we didn’t convert them. And we’ve got to just go back to the drawing board and learn from it. I’m not someone who likes to beat up on anything or become a Debbie Downer. Yeah, we lost today. We take that hit on our chin. We learn and we move on,” he stated.
The defeat leaves India in a difficult position in the round-robin standings, with both Indonesia and the Republic of Korea maintaining unbeaten records. However, Uppal stressed that the team’s focus remains on competing hard in the remaining ties, particularly against Korea.
“We have to come out fighting hard. We play Mongolia on Friday, that’s okay. But on Saturday, we’ve got to be ready because we want to beat Korea. There’s no two ways about that. And if we have to give a fighting chance to ourselves, we have to beat Korea.
Korea has won all three matches, and Indonesia has been on a winning streak. Given that, it looks tough and challenging for India now as even if they beat Mongolia, India have lost to both of these teams in head-to-head matches. Despite the odds, Uppal remains optimistic about the role of results and development over pure standings.
“Thankfully logic doesn’t work. Statistics works. Mathematics works. So we still have to play Korea. If we can beat them, then it comes down to mathematics, not to logic. And even otherwise, look, we have some youngsters on this team. We want to beat Korea because we want our players to develop. Yeah, maybe we make it this year, we don’t make it this year. That’s okay,” he said.
“But our tennis has to grow, our tennis has to improve. And for that, it’s important for us to come out firing every single day. Even if we play Mongolia, we have to come out firing. Because we need to develop our players and get them to understand the intensity that is required day in and day out. So, yeah, I mean, it’s still up there, you know. Mathematics will play its role on Saturday. But our job is to fight. That’s what we have to do,” he added.
India will next face Mongolia before a crucial tie against the Republic of Korea, with their qualification hopes hanging by a thread in the six-team round-robin competition.
–IANS
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