PERTH (Australia), Feb 5: Samantha Stosur rebounded to seal the win for Australia over Thailand on Thursday in the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group I play-offs, putting the host nation in a good position to make the final.

Australia remained unbeaten in the round robin stage of the women’s team competition with a 3-0 win in the tie against Thailand, their main Group ‘B’ rivals.

Having already beaten South Korea on Wednesday, the Australians will be expected to easily handle winless Taiwan in their final group match on Friday and advance to the final as the top side in their group.

Their rivals in the final will be either Indonesia or New Zealand, the two nations unbeaten in Group ‘A’ and set to play each other on Friday.

Saturday’s winner advances to an April play-off for a promotion in 2010 to World Group II – one step closer to the elite event.

In the Australia-Thailand tie, Jelena Dokic set the tone by easily beating Suchanun Viratprasert, 6-1, 6-2.But the host nation looked set to head into the make-or-break doubles rubber when Stosur, ranked 43rd in the world, found herself one game away from defeat against veteran Thai player Tamarine Tanasugarn, ranked 41st, who led 6-4, 5-2.

Tamarine then collapsed, failing twice to serve out the match and then allowing Stosur to reel off 11 straight games to claim the three-set victory, 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, and seal the tie win for Australia.

Indonesia, who beat Australia in the Asia/Oceania play-offs last year, made it two wins in a row in Group ‘A’, beating India 3-0.

Lavinia Tatanta put the Indonesians ahead by beating Sanaa Bhambri 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, before Sandy Gumulya secured the tie with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Ankita Bhambri.

New Zealand stayed on target with a win over Uzbekistan in a marathon tie, clinching it in the deciding doubles, with Marina Erakovic and Kairangi Vano beating Akgul Amanmuradova and Albina Khabibulina, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-2.

In Asia/Oceania Group II, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong both remained unbeaten with easy wins over Iran and Singapore, respectively.

Hong Kong and Kazakhstan play each other on Friday and the winner of that tie will be promoted to Asia/Oceania Group I next year.

Results (second day):

Asia/Oceania Group I:

Group ‘A’:

Indonesia bt India 3-0: Lavinia Tatanta

(Indonesia) bt Sanaa Bhambri (India) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; Sandy Gumulya (Indonesia) bt Ankita Bhambri (India) 6-0, 6-4; Damayanti/Gumulya (Indonesia) bt Ankita Bhambri/Rusmi Chakravarthi (India) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.

New Zealand bt Uzbekistan 2-1: Diane Hollands (New Zealand) bt Albina Khabibulina (Uzbekistan) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) bt Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1; Erakovic/Kairangi Vano (New Zealand) bt Amanmuradova/Khabibulina (Uzbekistan) 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-2.

Group ‘B’:

Australia bt Thailand 3-0: Jelena Dokic (Australia) bt Suchanun Viratprasert (Thailand) 6-1, 6-2; Samantha Stosur (Australia) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 4-6, 7-5, 6-0; Rennae Stubbs/Casey Dellacqua (Australia) bt Noppawan Lertcheewakarn/Varatchaya

Wongteanchai (Thailand) 6-4, 6-2.

South Korea bt Taiwan 2-1: Lee Jin-A (Korea) bt Hwang I-Hsuan (Taiwan) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5; Lee Ye-Ra (Korea) bt Chan Chin-Wei (Taiwan) 7-5, 6-4; Chan/Chuang Chia-Jung (Taiwan) bt Lee Jin-A/Chang Kyung Mi (Korea) 6-0, 6-1.

Asia/Oceania Group II:

Hong Kong bt Singapore 3-0: Yang Zi Jun (Hong Kong) bt Celina Cassandra Goetti (Singapore) 6-2, 6-1; Zhang Ling (Hong Kong) bt Tan Li Yun (Singapore) 6-0, 6-1; Yang/Zhang (Hong Kong) bt Si Ying Julienne Keong/ Hui Carolyn Ann Lim (Singapore) 6-0, 6-0.

Kazakhstan bt Iran 3-0: Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) bt Madona Najarian (Iran) 6-0, 6-0; Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) bt Ghazaleh Torkaman (Iran) 6-0, 6-0; Zarina Diyas/Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) bt Najarian/Torkaman (Iran) 6-0, 6-0.—AFP