KEY POINTS:
New Zealand face a playoff for fifth and sixth places in Christchurch today after winning their Asia-Oceania Federation Cup tie against Kazakhstan yesterday.
Teenager Sacha Jones and Leanne Baker cruised through their singles matches, and another win by Shona Lee and Dianne Hollands in the doubles gave the New Zealanders a clean-sweep in their last round-robin match.
Jones beat Tatyana Ignatchenko 6-3, 6-0, Baker beat Yekaterina Morozova 6-1, 6-1 and Hollands and Lee defeated Ignatchenko and Morozova 6-4, 6-1
"It was a must-win today to make sure we were away from relegation," captain David Lewis said.
"Leanne played really well and was very efficient and dominated from the word go, while Sacha also played well."
The win gave the home team a third placing in their section and means they play Hong Kong in a cross-group match today.
A fifth place finish will be a bonus for New Zealand, who were meant to be in a four-team competition.
Instead, with the combining of groups following the withdrawals of Jordan and Syria, they had an added incentive to secure a spot in the higher section next year.
Sixth placing would, under current International Tennis Federation rules, keep New Zealand away from having to play in Group 2 next season.
New Zealand ended up with two wins from five ties.
However, they won eight matches - the same as second-placed India, who were beaten 3-0 by Taiwan yesterday.
Thailand gained top spot in Group A, thanks to their 2-1 win over Korea - though they had to rely on a countback of wins, matches and even sets to hold on, just ahead of Uzbekistan.
Hong Kong also have three wins overall - but only seven match wins.
- NZPA