The last time India met South Korea in the Davis Cup, they set up a trial by heat in Chandigarh. Two Korean players, Yong Kyu Lim and Seong Chan Hong, wilted and had to retire mid-match; a ball boy collapsed too. India won 4-1.Ten years later, it was South Korea’s turn to host, and they chose Seoul’s historic Olympic Park Tennis Center as the setting. The weather was sultry but not nearly as oppressive as Chandigarh 2016. Sumit Nagal wilted anyway.India’s top-ranked singles player appeared jaded and faded without a trace in his reverse singles rubber against Soonwoo Kwon on Saturday. His 1-6, 2-6 capitulation ended the national team’s notable campaign at the Qualifiers stage. South Korea won 3-1 and advanced to the prestigious Final 8 for the first time.Nagal’s performance on Day 2 was a far departure from his spirited fight against Hyeon Chung earlier. Though he lost that match too, the 29-year-old went hell for leather in pursuit of deep and wide balls. He got within two games of victory and battled on for three hours and six minutes before going down.Versus Kwon, Nagal looked defeated long before the scoreline said so. He folded in all of 68 minutes. Kwon’s sublime show had a lot to do with that too, of course.DK gamble pays offIndia began the day on the brink, down 0-2 in the tie, and desperately needed their doubles duo to deliver against Jisung Nam and Uisung Park. Deliver it did. Dhakshineswar Suresh strode out alongside Sriram Balaji instead of the slated Niki Poonacha; captain Rohit Rajpal belatedly decided to stick with Dhakshineswar, bearing his doubles win in Bengaluru in mind. The gamble paid off.Balaji complemented Dhakshineswar’s big serve with consummate volleying, and Dhakshineswar returned the favour whenever Balaji served. The pair put collective pressure on Nam’s serve in the fourth game of Set 1 and finally broke through after six opportunities with precise net play. A smart lob by Balaji wrapped up the set in India’s favour.Story continues below this adAfter a lengthy stretch of solid serving, the Indians erred in the sixth game of Set 2. The first break points arrived for Korea, and a double fault by Balaji handed Nam-Park the break. Park gleefully served out the set to level things.The decider opened with three nervous service games from either pair before Dhakshineswar produced a line-kissing winner to earn the decisive break in the eighth game. After one hour and 44 minutes, the Tamil Nadu duo had won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. India stayed alive.Kwon dominatesAll hopes now rested on Nagal. Kwon crushed them at the outset.The Korea No. 1 started menacingly, overpowering Nagal with powerful groundstrokes and inch-perfect placement, breaking the Indian’s serve thrice to rout him in the first set. Nagal settled down a little in Set 2, landing deeper returns and coming close to breaking Kwon’s serve in the third game, but that was the extent of his resistance as the world No. 157 used his forehand to devastating effect on both sides. Nagal was reduced to a spectator. He saved four match points on his serve, but the writing was on the wall. A Nagal return went wide, and Kwon slumped to the ground. With his demolition job, the 28-year-old had propelled South Korea to a momentous quarterfinal berth. For India, it was a golden opportunity lost.Story continues below this ad South Korean players celebrate after winning against India during the Davis Cup second-round qualifier. (AP)Yuki Bhambri, who missed the tie with a thigh injury, said Nagal could have fought harder. “It is tough to recover from a gruelling three-hour match the previous day. But you are representing the country and have a team of physios there with you. Regardless of the result, you must give it your all,” Bhambri told the broadcaster.Nagal felt his struggle on the day was physical rather than mental. “He (Kwon) played at a very high level. I was one level down, he was one level up. That made a big difference between me and him. He just outplayed me, that’s it,” Nagal said. He cited Kwon’s expertise on the slow, low court too. “It’s very tough to hurt him here. It’s very suitable for him. The balls are heavy, everything goes to his knee, he can barely hit anything above his shoulder, while my game style is very opposite to him.”Rajpal, while refusing to single out Nagal’s losses, admitted that the failure to close out close matches hurt the team. “We just lacked finish and luck favoured them. A lot of things went their way. This Davis Cup is all about home advantage but we needed to close the match,” he said. “Yesterday’s match was clearly Sumit’s match. Third set he was back to 4-4 from 1-4,” Rajpal added.The jury is out on the cause, but the effect is evident. Having reached touching distance of the ultra-elite top eight, India stumbled. They will start their next Davis Cup campaign from the Qualifiers stage. Unless Nagal, or someone else, steps up next to DK, the dream will remain a dream.