Nations eye promotion as Europe/Africa III enters knockout phase

Twenty-one nations began the week at the SEB Arena in Vilnius with the hope of earning promotion from Billie Jean King Cup Europe/Africa Group III.

After three days of play, there are now just six teams who can lay claim to one of the two promotion spots, as the competition enters a knockout phase.

Norway, who defeated North Macedonia 3-0 on Thursday to finish top of Pool A, and Lithuania, who came through 3-0 against Kosovo, will both receive a bye to the promotion play-offs, which will take place on Saturday.

Norwegian captain Jorgen Vestli said: 'It's quite amazing that we are able to play during COVID, so we are very happy to be here. The facilities are great and, of course, we are very happy so far with two quite easy wins. We don't expect [promotion] as it's going to be a lot tougher now, but for sure we have a good chance.'

Friday's match-ups will see Ireland playing Bosnia and Herzegovina for the chance to take on Norway in the promotion play-offs, while South Africa will face Malta, with the winner advancing to a winner-takes-all encounter against Lithuania.

Hosts Lithuania will be hoping for more of the same from their players, as they topped Pool C with a 3-0 win over Kosovo on Thursday.

Akvile Parazinskaite, making her first appearance in six years for her country, was relieved to get her team off to a winning start, as she defeated Donika Bashota 6-4 6-4.

'It was great to be back playing Billie Jean King Cup for Lithuania again,' said Parazinskaite. 'I was a little bit nervous at the beginning - it's been a while since I played for my country - but I'm so excited and I'm really proud of my team. I think we're going to do really good this week.'

Click here for all the results from Lithuania

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