After the high of beating Korea and giving Indonesia a close run in the league engagements, India came down with a thud in the knockouts, losing 2-0 to top seeds Thailand in the Fed Cup women's team tennis competition in New Delhi on Saturday.
The difference between the two teams was all too embarrassing as first Suchanan Viratprasert subdued Sania Mirza 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 and then world number 54 Tamarine Tanasugarn had a cake walk against Rushmi Chakravarthy 6-0, 6-1 in the singles.
The inconsequential doubles match was cancelled.
Thailand advanced to the World Group playoff while India remained in Group 1.
Captain Enrico Piperno said he was "very satisfied" with the team's performance this week.
"I am very satisfied. Ankita (Bhambri) winning three matches, and given the team we had and the injuries, I think we had a great week," he said.
Piperno played Rushmi for the first time this week. With the Chennai girl being the highest ranked in the Indian team, that meant Sania was the number two player today.
"I gambled. I hoped Sania to win and to take it to the doubles. Unfortunately, Sania played well in patches. She did not capitalise on the chances she had in the first set.
"At this level, if you don't take them early they won't come in the end. Suchanan did not make any unforced errors," the captain said.
Sania had two break points in the second game in the first set. She had one more in the fourth and sixth each but failed to convert any of them. The 17-year old also missed out on five break point opportunities in the opening game of the second set.
Suchanan, fresh from a $25,000 win in Vietnam last week, was scratchy to begin with. But when the Indian committed a double fault to open the seventh game, the Thai girl sensed an opportunity and quickly shifted gears to break Sania and go up 4-3.
That was a feature of Suchanan, who is not new to the Indian circuit and had won a couple of ITF titles before. Her forehands were smooth and she handled the crucial points with great calm.
The only phase when the Indian played some solid tennis was in the tenth game of the first set when she showed some consistency in her ground strokes to break back. But her fluctuating form dipped in the tie-break where the Thai raced to a 5-0 lead and took the set easily.
"People expected me to win, there were a few points which if I had won could have turned the match the other way. But this is the first time we (India) had reached the qualifying stage," Sania said after the match.
The Wimbledon junior doubles champion, who would not play any more in the junior circuit, said she was happy with her performance this week.
"This is a team event and I am not here playing as Sania but a member of the Indian team. We won three ties and lost two.
"I had a decent week. I lost to some top-200 players. I was a bit rusty to begin with but then improved my game," she said.
