Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong defended her decision to send out Johanna Konta and Heather Watson for the decisive doubles tie after suffering Fed Cup despair in Miki.

Britain’s wait to play in the World Group will continue after they were beaten 3-2 by Japan in their promotion play-off – Konta and Watson losing the deciding doubles rubber to Miyu Kato and Makoto Ninomiya 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Anna Smith and debutant Gabi Taylor were the original nominations for the doubles but Keothavong replaced them with the more experienced pairing after Watson lost Sunday’s second singles match.

“We are gutted about the result. One day our opportunity will come,” Keothavong was quoted as saying on the BBC Sport website.

“If you keep knocking on the door, it will eventually open. It wasn’t to be this year but who is to say it won’t be next year.

“I’m proud of the effort both Jo and Heather put into the singles and doubles.

“Despite the short turnaround time I have no doubts that was the right decision for them to play the doubles.”

Wimbledon 2016 – Day One – The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong defended her doubles team decision (Steve Paston/PA)

Britain will compete again in Europe/Africa Group I in February 2019, playing three matches against three nations in a neutral venue in an attempt to reach another play-off.

It was a desperately disappointing outcome for Britain, especially after Konta put them 2-1 up with a superb 6-3 6-3 victory against the in-form Naomi Osaka – the British number one’s second straight sets win.

Japan levelled the tie as Kurumi Nara beat Watson 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 to give the partisan home crowd their wish of a doubles decider.

Watson and Konta started slowly as the Japanese duo reeled off five points in a row to break the Konta serve in the opening game and then held their own serve to love to move 2-0 ahead.

However, Konta and Watson rallied to win five games in a row before closing out the set.

Japan hit the ground running in the second set and raced into a 5-0 lead before recovering from a brief wobble to take the tie into the decider.

Kato and Ninomiya broke the British pair in the second set to take a 2-0 lead before saving four break points to move into a position of authority at 3-0.

They reeled off four points in a row and then saved another break point to make it 5-0.

Britain finally got on the board and broke before trimming the deficit further to 5-3, but although Watson and Konta saved two match points, they could not save a third as Kato and Ninomiya closed out victory.