Davis Cup team stay alive with vital doubles win

Last updated 09:49 21/10/2012

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The New Zealand Davis Cup team has kept its Asia/Oceania Group I relegation playoff against Taiwan alive with a come from behind victory in the vital doubles clash.

The combination of Dan King-Turner and Rubin Statham scored a 3-6 7-6(4) 6-1 6-4 over Cheng-Peng Hsieh and Liang-Chi Huang in Taipei to keep the tie alive heading into the reverse singles.

Hsieh is currently ranked 153 in the world in doubles and Huang 230 while Statham is ranked at 216 in doubles and King-Turner 311.

At this stage the reverse singles are set to have Michael Venus against Tsung-Hua Yang followed by King-Turner versus top 220 ranked Ti Chen. However, players can be changed by team captains up to an hour before the scheduled start of play.

Taiwan currently leads 2-1 after winning both singles matches on day one.

The loser of this tie will play Lebanon in the first round of Asia/Oceania Zone Group II in 2013. The winner will await the outcome of the draw for next year's Asia/Oceania Zone Group I to play alongside nations such as Australia, India, Uzbekistan and Japan.

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