[TENNIS] Russia wrapped up the Davis Cup tie against Thailand on only the second day with an easy win in the doubles to move back to the World Group in 2005.

A crowd of about 1,500 at the Sports Palace Luzhniki were not treated to exciting tennis as Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny proved too good for twins Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana.

After only one hours and 26 minutes, the Thai challenge came to an end. The Russian duo played a higher standard of tennis, with a more aggressive and consistent game to outclass the Thai twins 6-2 6-1 6-4. The reward for Russia is a promotion back to the elite World Group next year, while Thailand will be relegated to the Asia/Oceania qualifying Group I zone.

For Thailand it was another disappointing year. The Kingdom’s squad has reached the play-offs three years in a row, but never go further. The last two defeats were to England (3-2) and the Czech Republic (4-1).

“As I said earlier, our chances were slim,’’ said Thailand’s captain Chanachai Srichaphan. “I didn’t expect to win from the beginning and I knew that Sonchat and Sanchai didn’t have enough experience to beat players like Safin and Youzhny.’’

Despite winning some ITF and Challenger tournaments on clay, doubles specialists Sonchat and Sanchai had never met world-class players and their lack of experience took its toll.

“They played really fast and I couldn’t do anything. It was our first time playing top players. We tried our best,’’ said elder brother Sonchat, who shares a world ranking of No 150 with Sanchai in doubles.

Safin and Youzhny are ranked No 9 and No 33 in the world.

“At the beginning they couldn’t read our game, and that’s why it looked close in the first four games. But they were really fast, especially in the second set,” said younger brother Sanchai.

“The third set we played better, but we missed just a few points and that made the difference.’’

Former world No 1 Safin did notice how nervous his opponents were. But he could not be happier helping his team finish the tie as winners on only the second day.

“They never had experience in the World Group Play-offs and missed some shots easily. Otherwise, they would have played better,’’ said Safin, whose next mission is the Thailand Open in Bangkok next week.

“I have a good draw in Bangkok and hopefully I can keep playing good. I want to qualify for the Masters Cup and finish the year within the top five,’’ the Russian No 1 added.

Russian non-playing captain Shamil Tarpischev was a happy man. But he had not predicted an early victory.

“I have to thank my men for the good job. They really played well and worked hard to help the team get back to World Group,’’ said the delighted Tarpischev.

The Thai twins started off in impressive fashion, exchanging volleys and groundstrokes with their Russian opponents. But at 2-2, their mental condition became fragile. From then on the Russians took charge and won four successive games to win the first set 6-2 in only 25 minutes.

The second set was one-way traffic as Safin and Youzhny dictated play. Sonchat and Sanchai’s inexperience showed. They were overwhelmed by errors and managed to win only one game and lost the set 6-1.

In the meaningless reverse singles today, Thailand will field Sonchat and Sanchai. Russia will decide later who will play the final two rubbers.