India, April 11 -- Ankita Raina has fought many battles for India over a long career and remains the team's most experienced campaigner in the Billie Jean King Cup (Asia/Oceania Group 1). So, when it came to the crucial tie against South Korea on the final day at the DLTA courts here, captain Vishal Uppal turned to her for singles duty. India still had faint hopes of making the playoffs after Indonesia beat Korea in a marathon tie on Friday.

Ankita, 33, may have slipped to 588 in the rankings from a career-best 160 five years ago, but her fighting abilities remain intact. She showed that against South Korea's Dayeon Back, ranked 246 places above her, pushing her hard before losing 1-6, 5-7. The match could have taken a different turn had...