Taiwan set up Fed Cup showdown with Thailand

Taiwan Pool B of the Asia/Oceania zone of the Fed Cup in New Zealand yesterday with a 3-0 win over India, earning a playoff match against Group A winner Thailand today. The victor of today's match will advance to the World Group II playoffs in July.

The Taiwanese women finished with a perfect 4-0 record in the round robin after also defeating Kazakhstan, New Zealand and Jordan earlier in the tournament. The team lost just one of its 12 matches over five days of play.

Chan Chin-wei (詹瑾瑋) got yesterday's contest off to a good start with a quick 6-3, 6-2 win over Shikha Uberoi. In the next singles match Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) defeated Sunitha Rao by the same score to clinch the round. For good measure Hwang I-suan (黃怡萱) and Hsu Wen-hsin (許文馨) took the doubles match against Tara Iyer and Ankita Bhambri in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0.

In the US, Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) recovered from a shaky start to advanced to the quarter-finals of the International Tennis Federation tournament in Dothan, Alabama, yesterday. She defeated France's Irena Pavlovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will next play American Julie Ditty, who easily beat third-seeded Ashley Harkleroad 6-1, 6-2.

There were no surprises in the women's doubles as first-seeded Chan and partner Chuang Chia-jung (莊佳容) breezed past Americans Ahsha Rolle and Abigail Spears 6-1, 6-3. They next play Venezuelan Milagros Sequera and American Aleke Tsoubanos, the fourth-seeded pair, in the semi-finals.