Taiwan’s bid for promotion back to Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I on Sunday ended in failure at the Ulusal Tenis Egitim Merkezi Tennis Club in Izmir, Turkey, as Pakistan claimed a 3-2 victory to advance.
Wang Chieh-fu, who was standing in for Jimmy Wang, leveled the match at 2-2 by coming from a set down to win a thrilling first reverse singles rubber 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-3 over Pakistan’s Aqeel Khan.
Wang hit 20 aces and converted three of seven break points, completing the victory in 4 hours, 2 minutes.
However, Pakistan’s Aisam Qureshi gave his side the victory in the second reverse singles with a 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Hung Jui-chen in a match that lasted 3 hours, 56 minutes.
The teams had shared the points in the opening singles on Friday, with Khan defeating Hung 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 and Jimmy Wang crushing Samir Iftikhar 6-3, 6-2, 6-0.
Taiwan on Saturday fell behind 2-1 after Wang Chieh-fu and Jimmy Wang lost their doubles match 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to Khan and Qureshi.
The loss sees Taiwan remain in Asia/Oceania Group II next year, while Pakistan are promoted to Group I.
Pakistan were playing the match in Turkey due to the security situation back home.
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