By IANS,
New Delhi : India’s 3-2 win over Japan in the Asia-Oceania Group I tie has not only earned them a berth in the World Group playoffs but moved them up two places to the 24th position in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Davis Cup ranking.
The jump in rankings though was not enough for them to get a seeding in the play-off to be held from September 19-21. They will have to get past one of the eight seeded teams – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Israel, South Korea, Romania and Slovakia – to play in the World Group after 10 years.
The other unseeded nations in the playoffs are Brazil, Chile, Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Peru.
India will know their opponents Wednesday when the draw ceremony takes place at the ITF office in London. The draw will comprise 16 nations – the eight Group I second round winners being joined by the eight World Group first round losers.
India – three-time runners-up in the Davis Cup in 1966, 1974, and 1987 – last played in the World Group in 1998. Besides India, Romania and Argentina are the other two teams to have contested more than one final without winning the Davis Cup title.