New Delhi: Sania Mirza and Manisha Malhotra combined to give India a thrilling 2-1 victory over third seeds Korea in the Fed Cup women's team tennis competition at the R K Khanna stadium yesterday (April 20, 2004).

After the two teams shared the honours at the end of the singles matches, Sania and Manisha defeated Yoon-Jeong Cho and Mi-Ra Jeon 7-6 (7/2) 7-5 to give a surprise victory for the hosts.

Earlier, Ankita Bhambri played some fearless tennis to stun Kyung-Mi Chang 6-1 4-6 6-2 to put India ahead before Sania went down 4-6 2-6 to Jeon in the second singles.

The win puts India in a healthy position and second seeds Indonesia remain the next major hurdle in the pool engagements.

Sania made up for her singles loss with a powerful display and struck an electrifying bonding with Manisha to dominate the doubles match.

The Koreans broke Manisha in the fifth game to go 3-2 up in the first set but the home girls broke back in the 10th and pushed it into the tiebreaker. The Indians took a commanding 5-1 lead in the shootout to take the set comfortably.