Karan improves ranking

NEW DELHI, AUG. 19. When you are 14, you can see the world change in seven weeks. Karan Rastogi found that he had grown from 436 in the ITF junior ranking to be in the top 200 with his efforts in six tournaments, two each in Tunisia, Egypt and Syria.

Karan had a memorable finish when he reached the singles final of the last tournament in Damascus, Syria, but fell to the bigger built second-seed Anuwat Dalodom of Thailand 4-6, 1-6.

Karan had earlier made two semifinals, a quarterfinal and two pre-quarterfinals in the under-18 circuit.

The Mumbai lad did well in doubles too, in partnership with Rishi Behl, though the duo lost in the semifinals of the last tournament to the Thai Dalodom and Fahd Al Saad of Saudi Arabia 3-6, 5-7 after beating Yassif Bouyahya of Morocco and Amit Karunakaran 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

``I am quite happy with the performance. I had made the pre- quarterfinals twice in the earlier six tournaments in India and Bangladesh. I expected to do well, but not this well. I have really gained in confidence'', said Karan, obviously quite happy with his rise as a strong player in the intensely competitive junior world.

``The opponent in the final was too big for me. But I am sure, I will do better in future. I could have done better in Egypt also'', said Karan who had a week-long break before the events in Egypt and Syria.

The good thing was that Karan's trip was well planned by his father Rahul Rastogi, who ensured that a coach travelled with the boy. In partnership with Rishi and Krushmi Chhedda, and later with Amit Karunakaran, Karan shared a Portuguese coach from Dubai, Luis Reis.

``The coach made a lot of difference to our performance. We did not have to worry about our tennis and a lot of other things. We had known him earlier, when he was in Mumbai as part of the programme conducted by our coaching centre, Practennis. It was easier for us to travel with him'', said Karan.

Karan had been part of the Indian team that played the under-16 tournament in Jakarta earlier this year. He was a key player last year in the under-14 team which qualified for the World Youth Cup final in Czech Republic after reaching the final of the preliminary stage in Bangkok.

By the time he celebrates his 15th birthday on October 28, Karan would have played in two more ITF junior tournaments in India, and be ready for bigger challenges.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Top stars for Hong Kong Open
Next     : Rafter enters final