After defeating Chinese Taipei and Thailand in their opening two group matches, Uzbekistan can guarantee a spot in the Group I Playoffs with a win against Hong Kong. However, for the territory to have any hopes of avoiding the relegation playoffs, a swift victory over the fancied Uzbeks is imminent.

"After going down in her opening match against Thailand after leading 5-3 in the 2nd set, Jessica bounced back mentally and physically very well today against a highly ranked opponent. She kept a very positive mindset throughout this match and played some solid attacking tennis. She also combined it with good changes of height and pace, which was great to see. It was a confidence building win for her, and one she can hopefully take to heart and build on throughout the remainder of these matches and indeed the rest of the year," was the report from Thailand.

Against Chan Yung-Jan (WTA 64) at the one spot, however, Zhang Ling simply "ran into a freight-train today. Chan barely missed a ball. Chan's power, consistency and accuracy were too much. As a learning experience, there was a lot Lynn could take away from this match - seeing how a top 70 player in fine form competes, what she does well etc, then using that as a bit of a benchmark to gauge where she is at this stage and what she really needs to work and build on."

In the decisive doubles, Zhang Ling and Jessica Yang fought until the very end, but they were outclassed by a more accomplished and experienced team in Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-jung, who together have won no less than four WTA Tour doubles titles, not to mention reaching the Aussie Open and US Open finals in 2007. The Taipei duo poached well, kept their percentages high, and hit their targets with great accuracy.

"Overall, it was great to see the girls having the opportunity to play some highly ranked players and really trying to take it to them. There was some encouraging play from the HK girls, and with more exposure to players at this level, they will continue to learn and develop their games, both in singles and doubles," said travelling coach, Alistair Todd.

According to the rules, the two pool winners will play-off with the winning team advancing to the World Group II Play-offs in April 2008. The fourth place team in each pool will play-off against one another, with the losing team relegated to Asia/Oceania Zone Group II in 2009.

Thus, in the event that the territory could not overcome Uzbekistan today, then the trio of Zhang Ling, Jessica Yang, and Lam Po Kuen will have to battle the last placed team from Group A in a Relegation Playoff for Group I survival.

Standings

Group A	Group B
Indonesia (2-0)	Uzbekistan (2-0)
Australia (1-1)	Chinese Taipei (1-1)
New Zealand (1-1)	Thailand (1-1)
India (0-2)	Hong Kong (0-2)

At Christchurch last year, Hong Kong registered one of its biggest Fed Cup wins by defeating the same Uzbekistan team who a few months earlier had just toppled the mighty Chinese National squad consisting of Li Na, Zheng Jie, Yan Zi, and Peng Shuai at the Doha Asian Games. As it turned out, debutante Zhang Ling defeated Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-3, 6-3, at the two spot before Venise Chan saw off reigning Asian Championships winner and former Top-16 player, Iroda Tulyaganova, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, to secure an insurmountable 2-0 lead.

Although Iroda Tulyaganova has slipped from last April's No. 130 to the present ranking of No. 315, she can still flat out compete with the best of them, as evidenced by her come from behind win against Hsieh Su-Wei (WTA 95) on Wednesday.

Surprise package Indonesia (2-0) has so far beaten Australia and India, and sits atop Group A with a 2-0 record. However, if the Kiwis (1-1) manage to win their last group game against Indonesia, and that Australia (1-1) beats India (0-2), then all three sides other than India will have identical 2-1 records, thereby making it rather interesting indeed.

Results
Fed Cup by BNP Paribas 2008
Asia/Oceania Zone Group I
LTAT National Tennis Development Centre
Bangkok, Thailand
28 January – 3 February 2008

Group B (Round Robins)

Chinese Taipei defeated Hong Kong   2 - 1
R-1 Yang Zi-Jun (HKG) d. Chan Chin-Wei (TPE) 6-2 6-4
R-2 Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) d. Zhang Ling (HKG) 6-0 6-1
R-3 Chan Yung-Jan/Chuang Chia-Jung (TPE) d. Zhang Ling/Yang Ji-Zun (HKG) 6-3 6-2


Photo courtesy of Jiro