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Brian Swartz · 09-26-2022, 08:02 PM

World Team Cup, Level 4 Group 3 Round 2
Chinese Taipei (51st) vs. Sri Lanka (55th), Hardcourt

Monday: T. Gu d. A. Sankait, 6-1, 6-0, 6-1
Tuesday: K. Fen l. M. Datar, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
Wednesday: Fen/Ban l. Datar/Sankait, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0
Thursday: T. Gu d. M. Datar, 6-0, 6-4, 6-1
Friday: K. Fen l. A. Sankait, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

Sri Lanka defeats Chinese Taipei, 3-2!!

This is our first WTC tie victory since I returned to the game, and it requires some unpacking. It both was, and was not, an upset. Tung Gu is the best singles player playing at this level, ranked 98th in the world. We knew that going into the year; he's going to get his wins. What is unexpected is that the #2 player for Chinese Taipei - Zheng-xin Xu (291st) has not been playing, leaving the duties up to their #3, Kai-Shek Fen (432nd). Neither player is human-managed, and Xu is both younger and better. I have no explanation for why he is not playing, but it's basically leaving Gu high and dry, with nobody to get that third win for them.

Tunisia beat Uzbekistan 3-2, so the standings are currently Tunisia on top with 2 points, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka next with 1, Chinese Taipei with 0. I expect the same result between Chinese Taipei and Tunisia - a 3-2 win for Tunisia with Gu getting his two points. If that happens then we finish either 2nd or 3rd depending on how we do against Uzbekistan. Both of their singles players are in the 200-250 range in the rankings and near their peak, so I think it's quite unlikely that we win. Still, Chinese Taipei's error in our favor does probably mean that we don't have to worry about being kicked out of the WTC next year. Only way that could happen now is if they beat Tunisia and we lose to Uzbekistan.

Anant Sankait winning that up-and-down decisive rubber probably saved our season in that sense. It also gave him enough clearance from Sushant Srivastava that it will be another year before Srivastava can get his ranking high enough to represent Sri Lanka in the WTC. So it's both good and bad news, depending on how you slice it. And they did kick Intodia out of our doubles team finally - that helped as well. We switched places with Chinese Taipei in the rankings after this result; up four spots to 51st, and they're down four to 55th. At least for the moment, the bleeding has temporarily been stopped.

Srivastava and Raychaudhari are both in action next week; Chandrasekharan had a terrible outing in his last amateur so he'll be back in action the week after that. We'll check back in on everyone's progress when the tour hits the Indian Wells Masters a month from now.

09-26-2022, 08:02 PM	#1293
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	World Team Cup, Level 4 Group 3 Round 2 Chinese Taipei (51st) vs. Sri Lanka (55th), Hardcourt Monday: T. Gu d. A. Sankait, 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 Tuesday: K. Fen l. M. Datar, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 Wednesday: Fen/Ban l. Datar/Sankait, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 Thursday: T. Gu d. M. Datar, 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 Friday: K. Fen l. A. Sankait, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Sri Lanka defeats Chinese Taipei, 3-2!! This is our first WTC tie victory since I returned to the game, and it requires some unpacking. It both was, and was not, an upset. Tung Gu is the best singles player playing at this level, ranked 98th in the world. We knew that going into the year; he's going to get his wins. What is unexpected is that the #2 player for Chinese Taipei - Zheng-xin Xu (291st) has not been playing, leaving the duties up to their #3, Kai-Shek Fen (432nd). Neither player is human-managed, and Xu is both younger and better. I have no explanation for why he is not playing, but it's basically leaving Gu high and dry, with nobody to get that third win for them. Tunisia beat Uzbekistan 3-2, so the standings are currently Tunisia on top with 2 points, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka next with 1, Chinese Taipei with 0. I expect the same result between Chinese Taipei and Tunisia - a 3-2 win for Tunisia with Gu getting his two points. If that happens then we finish either 2nd or 3rd depending on how we do against Uzbekistan. Both of their singles players are in the 200-250 range in the rankings and near their peak, so I think it's quite unlikely that we win. Still, Chinese Taipei's error in our favor does probably mean that we don't have to worry about being kicked out of the WTC next year. Only way that could happen now is if they beat Tunisia and we lose to Uzbekistan. Anant Sankait winning that up-and-down decisive rubber probably saved our season in that sense. It also gave him enough clearance from Sushant Srivastava that it will be another year before Srivastava can get his ranking high enough to represent Sri Lanka in the WTC. So it's both good and bad news, depending on how you slice it. And they did kick Intodia out of our doubles team finally - that helped as well. We switched places with Chinese Taipei in the rankings after this result; up four spots to 51st, and they're down four to 55th. At least for the moment, the bleeding has temporarily been stopped. Srivastava and Raychaudhari are both in action next week; Chandrasekharan had a terrible outing in his last amateur so he'll be back in action the week after that. We'll check back in on everyone's progress when the tour hits the Indian Wells Masters a month from now. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 09-26-2022 at 08:04 PM.