TENNIS/Federation Cup:Ireland yesterday gained Federation Cup promotion when they defeated Latvia in the final match of their pool in the National Tennis Centre, Phoenix, Mauritius.

The Irish team of Kelly Liggan, Emma Murphy, Rachael Dillon and Yvonne Doyle earned a 2-1 win in the Euro/Africa Group III match, which means that next year the Irish team will compete in Group II of that world group along with the likes of Greece, South Africa, Estonia and Lithuania.

The win marks a successful week for the Irish against a mix of ability. Ireland fought hard in their first match of the series against Montenegro for a 2-1 win and again yesterday but their two middle games against Malta and Moldova were more like training outings as they romped to 3-0 victories.

Yesterday's match was again more fraught after Alise Vaidere defeated Murphy in three sets. Murphy had glided through the first set 6-2 before Vaidere turned it right around, winning the next two sets 6-1, 6-1 for the match.

The more experienced Liggan was on court in the second singles against Irina Kuzmina and immediately took control. The first set fell 6-4 in favour of Ireland with the second falling 6-3 for a comfortable Liggan win.

With the match poised at 1-1, the doubles decided who would earn promotion. Doyle and doubles specialist Liggan teamed up against Kuzmina and Vaidere and immediately looked comfortable on the slow hard court.

Winning the first set 6-2, the duo carried that form into the second set, which they also claimed 6-2 to seal the win.

"To stay in the group we need to have players ranked at around the 200 or 300 (in the world) mark," said captain Gary Cahill. "If we can get players to that level we have a possibility of staying up or even going up to a higher group."

Singles: A Vaidere (Lat) bt E Murphy (Irl) 2-6 6-1 6-1; K Liggan (Irl) bt I Kuzmina (Lat) 6-4 6-3; Y Doyle/K Liggan (Irl) bt I Kuzmina/ A Vaidere (Lat) 6-2 6-2.