Taiwan had a day to forget in the Fed Cup on Wednesday as Chan Chin-wei and Chang Kai-chen both lost to lower-ranked opponents in a defeat by Uzbekistan.
Nigina Abduraimova beat Chan 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 before Akgul Amanmuradova prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 over Chang to leave Taiwan with an uphill battle to qualify from Group B of the Group 1 Asia/Oceania tie being played in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana.
Abduraimova, 18, improved her Fed Cup singles record to 4-10 with her victory over Chan, who at No. 262, is ranked 41 places higher than her opponent from Tashkent.
World No. 149 Amanmuradova then put more than 10 years of Fed Cup experience to good use in beating the 114th-ranked Chang.
Chan and Lee Hua-chen enjoyed a consolation victory in the doubles, beating Abduraimova and Sabina Sharipova 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
In Wednesday’s other Group B clash, China beat South Korea, Qiang Wang breezing past Lee So-ra 6-3, 6-3 before Zhou Yimiao made short work of Han Sung-hee in a 6-3, 6-2 victory.
South Korean pair Kang Seo-kyung and Yoo Mi won the doubles against Wang and Tang Haochen 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
Kazakhstan won a mis-match against an inexperienced India 3-0 in Group A.
Ksenia Pervak thrashed world No. 548 Rishika Sunkara 6-0, 6-0 and Yaroslava Shvedova breezed past 480th-ranked Kyra Shroff 6-1, 6-1, before Sesil Karatantcheva and Galina Voskoboeva added to their opponents’ misery in a 6-3, 6-1 doubles defeat of Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
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