India's young guns Vivek Shokeen and Karan Rastogi were silenced on the red clay courts of Namangan, as Uzbekistan surged into a 2-0 lead after the first day of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I first round tie on Friday.
Uzekistan's No 1 player Denis Istmoin defeated Shokeen 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 42 minutes before Farrukh Dustov got the better of Rastogi in he second singles. The in-form Rastogi went down 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
India will now look for inspiration from captain Leander Paes to keep the tie alive on the third day. Paes, teaming up with Sunil Kumar Sipaeya, face the duo of Istomin and Murad Inoyatov in the doubles on Saturday.
Shokeen, drafted into the side after top Indian players Rohan Bopanna and Harsh Mankad opted out of the tie, committed a string of errors and was broken thrice in the opening set.
The 20-year-old Istomin pocketed the set in 27 minutes and, supported by a capacity 1,000-strong crowd, continued to dominate on the red clay courts of the Pahlavon indoor stadium. After being two sets up at the stroke of the hour, the Uzbek broke Shokeen twice in the third set again to secure victory.
Mumbai's Rastogi could not do much to change India's fotunes either, the solid goundstrokes from Dustov keeping him at bay.
