New Delhi, April 7 (NationPress) Thailand gained an early advantage against the home team, India, on the first day of the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group I Qualifiers at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) Stadium on Tuesday. This came after rain interrupted the matches.

Continuous rain earlier in the day delayed the start by almost three hours, with the opening singles match commencing just around 6 p.m.

India's Vaishnavi Adkar, who is ranked No. 383 globally and participating in this competition for the first time, struggled initially against Thailand's 23-year-old Anchisa Chanta (No. 456).

Utilizing her unique two-handed groundstrokes, Chanta quickly established a 4-0 lead and controlled the play throughout the first set, winning it 6-1.

Adkar attempted to mount a comeback in the second set with an early break.

However, Chanta answered back decisively, winning four consecutive games to lead 4-1. Although Adkar managed to close the gap to 4-3, Chanta regained her rhythm, breaking once again before clinching the match 6-1, 6-3 in a total of one hour and 13 minutes, thereby giving Thailand a 1-0 lead. This victory improved Chanta's singles record in the competition to 8-1.

In the second singles match, Thai veteran Patcharin Cheapchandej was ahead of Sahaja Yamalapalli at 6-4, 1-6, 4-3 when rain interrupted play again, leading to the suspension of the match until Wednesday morning.

Yamalapalli faced an early break in the first set but fought back to equalize before Cheapchandej (No. 449) secured a crucial break to take the first set 6-4. The Indian player (No. 384) rebounded impressively in the second set, winning it 6-1.

Cheapchandej, who boasts a 7-3 singles record in this competition, broke serve early in the final set to lead 3-1, but Yamalapalli managed to equalize at 3-3. However, Cheapchandej broke serve again in the seventh game, leading to another rain delay.

The match will resume at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, followed by the doubles match where Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale are set to compete against Thailand's Thasaporn Naklo and Peangtarn Plipuech. India will subsequently take on New Zealand in their second match of the tournament.

In other matches, the Korea Republic dominated Mongolia, winning both singles and the doubles without losing a single game.

Indonesia achieved a 2-0 victory over New Zealand thanks to wins from world No. 41 Janice Tjen, the highest-ranked player in the tournament, and world No. 389 Priska Nugroho. The doubles match in that tie was also halted due to rain and will continue on Wednesday morning.

All six teams are competing in a round-robin format through Saturday, with the top two teams advancing to the next round. On Wednesday, Thailand will face the Korea Republic, while Indonesia will take on Mongolia.