India stay in Oceania

Bangalore (PTI): Seasoned Leander Paes combined with Sanam Singh to score an easy win against Indonesia's David Agung Susant and Elbert Sie as India retained their place in Asia Oceania Group I by taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the Davis Cup relegation play-off tie, here on Saturday. Paes, playing his 50th Davis Cup tie, and Sanam recorded a dominating 6-2 6-1 6-4 win in 90 minutes, securing the tie for the hosts. India maintained their record of never losing to Indonesia as the hosts now lead head-to-head statistics 6-0. Now, tomorrow's reverse singles are mere dead rubbers and Indian captain S P Misra may rest Somdev Devvarman and instead play Sanam against Christopher Rungkat. Playing for the first time as a team, Paes and Sanam outsmarted the Indonesian duo. They won the first set in a jiffy and broke David and Elbert twice in the second set to take the fizz out of the Indonesian challenge.