Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan blew away their chances in the must-win doubles match as India lost the World Group I tie 1-3 to Finland here on Saturday.

Captain Rohit Rajpal changed the doubles combination in the last minute by pairing Bopanna with Ramkumar instead of left-handed Divij Sharan, but nothing helped as they lost the crucial match 6-7(2), 6-7(2) to Henri Kontinen and Harri Heliovaara in one hour and 38 minutes.

Both Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar had lost their singles matches on Friday and to stay alive in the tie, the Indians needed to win the doubles.

Prajnesh later beat Patrik Niklas-Salminen in the dead fourth rubber 6-3, 7-5, while the fifth match was not played. India will now have to compete in the play-offs next year to keep their place in the World Group I.

Heliovaara was considered the most vulnerable of all four players on the court but he raised his game by several notches and created a huge impact on the match.

The Indians, on the contrary, fumbled even when they had advantage as they squandered as many as four breakpoints in the eighth game of the second set when winning that game could have given them the chance to put the hosts under the pump. At 3-3, the Indian pair attacked the serve of Heliovaara, going 30-all but the home player served big on the next two points to ensure the set stayed on serve. Eventually the opening set went to tie-breaker. Heliovaara found a stunning service return winner off Bopanna on the second point to get the mini break.

Advantage Norway

World No. 10 Casper Ruud put Norway on the brink of a Davis Cup victory against visitors Uzbekistan in the World Group I playoffs with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Khumoyun Sultanov.

Norway, who are in the World Group playoffs for the first time since 1995, took a 2-0 lead over Uzbekistan after Ruud beat Sultanov in just over an hour, while Viktor Durasovic sealed a 6-4, 6-4 win over Denis Istomin.