Sania loses, Japan beat India 2-1 in Fed Cup

Tennis star Sania Mirza suffered a shock defeat in the women's doubles as India went down 1-2 to Japan in their second match of the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I at the True Arena Hua Hin here.

In the opening singles match in Pool A, World No.206 Eri Hozumi defeated 523th ranked Prarthana G. Thombare of India 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday.

In the next singles match, No.307 Ankita Raina stunned No.56 Nao Hibino 6-3, 6-1 to level things up 1-1.

India had a great chance to beat Japan with doubles's World No.1 Sania in their team. But in the final encounter, Sania and Prarthana lost 5-7, 3-6 to the pairing of Shuko Aoyama and Hozumi to hand over the match to Japan.

India, who lost to hosts Thailand 0-3 on Wednesday and are out of the reckoning for the play-offs for the World Group II. India will take on Uzbekistan in their last Group engagement later on Friday.

In the other Pool A match, Thailand beat Uzbekistan 3-0 while in Pool B China defeated Korea Republic 2-1 and Chinese Taipei defeated Kazakhstan 2-1.