India upset Germany in Junior Fed Cup

The Indian girls upset sixth seeds Germany in the Under-16 Junior Federation Cup finals, being played at La Baule, France, on Tuesday.

The team of Ankita Bhambri and Sania Mirza won their second round-robin match 2-1.

India is placed in Group 3 along with fourth seeds Russia, Germany and Korea.

Earlier on Monday, the Indian girls went down 0-3 to Russia in their first match.

Indian No 2 Ankita played superb tennis to win her first singles match against Melanie Hafner 6-4, 6-2.

Sania, however, did not play very well in her match against Tatjana Malek and lost in straight sets 4-6, 1-6.

In the crucial doubles tie, Sania and Ankita teamed up to face the challenge of Carmen Klaschka and Malek. The Indian pair started well and took a 4-1 lead in the first set. They faced a few anxious moments when the Germans fought back to level the scores at 5-5, but the Indians moved up a gear to win the next eight games and the match 7-5, 6-0.

India will face Korea in their last match on Wednesday.

India had defeated Korea 3-0 in the regional qualifying tie at Jakarta, Indonesia, in July.

India's chances for qualifying for the knockout semifinal stage suffered a setback as Russia registered their second win, when they defeated Korea 2-1.