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Tennis
Impressive Sanaa makes semifinals
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, DEC. 6. Hope springs eternal. It will, however, spring on slender and tender shoulders when Sanaa Bhambri and Sunil Kumar pose the Indian challenge in the semifinals of the Asian junior tennis championship at the DLTA Complex.
The short but sweet stroking Sanaa, all of 13 years and nine months, did what none of her more fancied compatriots could manage on Thursday, as she emerged the only Indian girl to figure in the last four stage of the prestigious event.
It was a similar story in the boys section as the top- seeded Sunil Kumar had an easy entry into the semifinals, despite nursing a painful shoulder, as his opponent Nishank Mishra limped away at 2-5, with a twisted ankle.
The day belonged to Sanaa. For one who had not crossed the quarterfinals in ITF junior circuit before, Sanaa played with a lot of conviction, and had the contest in control in both the sets.
It was a creditable fare from the diminutive girl to have humbled an opponent who was brimming with confidence in beating the third-seeded Chai-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei in the earlier round. Moreover, Sanaa had lost both her two previous matches against Samrita, albeit a year ago, and the victory was thus a veritable signal for her developing game.
Sanaa, who has a sharp tennis brain ticking away all the time, will have a more serious challenge on the morrow when she takes on the second-seeded Da-Jung Hong. The Korean rallied smartly from the back-court, riding on her strong forehand, in prevailing over the fifth-seeded Megha Vakharia 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7) in two hours and 10 minutes.
It was a gutsy effort from Megha as she saved two matchpoints in the second-set tie-break, smacking delightful winners, but she missed her chances in both the sets, especially in the second when she had a setpoint in the 12th game to force the decider.
The 16-year-old left-hander did go down with guns blazing, and was so admirably focussed through the contest that she broke her racquet in disgust on missing a point. It was another matter that she got away without a penalty, as the chair umpire opted to ignore the event despite watching the racquet being changed, immediately after it had been banged on the court.
Another talented youngster, the 16-year-old Isha Lakhani literally had a dozen chances, but failed to capitalise on them, despite a commendable effort to fight her way past an equally small-built Pichaya Laosirichon of Thailand.
Isha missed seven setpoints in the 12th game of the first set, and two more in the eventual tie-break. It was, thus, no surprise that her challenge petered out in the second set, when she won a solitary game.
In the boys section, the 18-year-old Sunil Kumar was fortuitous not to be tested thoroughly after he saved five breakpoints in the first game against the steady-stroking Nishank Mishra.
The former national champion was unable to deliver his first serves with usual gusto because of the pain, but he did not face much of challenge in running up a 5-2 lead before Nishank cried a halt to the proceedings. The absence of the physiotherapist at the venue compounded the problem and Nishank had no option but to retire as the pain hampered his movements, following a fall.
Sunil will meet the fourth-seeded Wang-Cheng Hsieh of Chinese Taipei, who won in three sets against Sratha Saenguwann of Thailand.
The second-seeded Amanjot Singh played well below potential and crashed to an ignominious 1-6, 2-6 defeat in an hour at the hands of the fifth-seeded Tai Wei Liu of Chinese Taipei. The latter took the sting away from Amanjot's game with his crafty retrievals and sharp returns, not to forget the accurate top-spin drives.
Unable to get his usual quota of winners and free points with his big serves, the 17-year-old Amanjot hit the self- destruct button in sheer frustration, as he lacked the discipline and intensity of focus to make a meaningful challenge.
The results:
Boys singles (quarterfinals): Sunil Kumar bt Nishank Mishra 5-2 (conceded); Wang-Cheng Hsieh (Tpe) bt Sratha Saenguwann (Tha) 1-6, 6-0, 6-4; Yu-Da Shieh (Tpe) bt Anuwat Dalodom (Tha) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2; Tai Wei Liu (Tpe) bt Amanjot Singh 6-1, 6-2.
Boys doubles (quarterfinals): Wang Cheng Hsieh/Ti-Chang Wu (Tpe) bt Ivan Kokurin (Uzb)/Ivan Kovalev (Kaz) 7-5, 6-0; Somdev Dev Varman/Jaco T. Mathew w.o. Adam Jaya/Danio Yahya (Mas); Sratha Saengsuwarn (Tha)/Yu-Da Shieh (Tpe) bt Vikram Aditya Menon/Arun Prakash 3-6, 7-5, 6-2; Tai Wei Liu/Cheu-Cheng Shih (Tpe) bt Rohan Gajjar/Amanjot Singh 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Girls singles (quarterfinals): Chin Wei Chan (Tpe) bt Diana Julianto (Ina) 6-3, 6-2; Pichaya Laosirichon (Tha) bt Isha Lakhani 7-6 (10-8), 6-1; Sanaa Bhambri bt Samrita Sekar 7-5, 6-4; Da-Jung Hong (Kor) bt Megha Vakharia 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7).
Doubles (semifinals): Chin-Wei Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) bt Sanaa Bhambri/Sania Mirza 6-0, 6- 2; Diana Julianto (Ina)/Pichaya Laosirichon (Tha) bt Isha Lakhani/Megha Vakharia 6-1, 6-4.
India's Sanaa Bhambri stretches to play a return on her way to a quarterfinal victory against compatriot Samrita Sekar in the Asian junior championship in New Delhi on Thursday. (Right) Tai Wei Liu of
Chinese Taipei in action against India's Amanjot Singh.
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