The Hindu : First leg of Satellite circuit from today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 29, 2002

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Sport - Tennis

First leg of Satellite circuit from today

By Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI APRIL 28 . He may be viewed more as a coach these days, but Sandeep Kirtane can be more than a handful when he is across the net any day.

The seasoned Sandeep asserted his form and fitness by qualifying comfortably, past a bunch of kids ten years younger to him, for the loss of eight games in three rounds.

The newly crowned National grasscourt champion, Manoj Mahadevan will have the unenviable task of opening his campaign against Sandeep in the first leg of the Satellite tennis circuit which begins at the DLTA Complex here on Monday.

In fact, Sandeep can be a terror in the top quarter, if he puts his game together, and conserves his energy in the trying conditions.

The national hardcourt champion, Vijay Kannan, the serve and volley specialist Vishaal Uppal also figure in the first quarter along with the top-seeded Mustafa Ghouse who has not been in the best of form in the circuit of late.

In the second quarter, there are a whole lot of youngsters, like Rohan Gajjar, Shivang Mishra, Vijayendra Laad and Kamala Kannan, who can grab their chance if they strike their wonted form.

Nitin Kirtane, seeded third, in a field that has only six players with a three-figure ATP ranking, will be handling the challenge from the likes of Vinod Sridhar and Somdev Dev Varman, if he gets past qualifier Elad Stern of Israel in the first round. The way the Israelite got past Amod Wakalkar in the final qualifying round, Nitin may be in for a stern test.

Palivela Ravikrishna, Punna Vishal and Rishi Sridhar will be the ones trying to draw attention in the fourth quarter, in which two Israelis, two Japanese and a Russian may have their say.

Overall, it should be a lively competition that could provide a hint about the hunger of the Indian players to excel in physically demanding conditions.

In the absence of players like Prahlad Srinath, Rohan Bopanna and Sunil Kumar, it may be difficult for an Indian player to dominate this circuit which offers a maximum of 36 ATP points, including six bonus, for four weeks of sweat and toil.

Meanwhile, taking a cue from the number of tournaments being conducted at the DLTA Complex through the season, the organisers have opted to construct a permanent roof over the stands catering to spectators of six courts. However, it will not be a bad idea to give a cloth layer below the asbestos to cut the heat radiation.

If only the Indian players take a cue from Sandeep Kirtane, the only Indian, apart from Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, to have qualified for the singles main draw of an ATP Tour event in the last seven years, Indian tennis can command a lot more respect in the international arena. That is, at least in the Satellite circuits at home !

The seedings : 1. Mustafa Ghouse, 2. Tomer Suissa (Isr), 3. Nitin Kirtane, 4. Eliran Dooyev (Isr), 5. Manoj Mahadevan, 6. Hayato Furukawa (Jpn), 7. Ivan Syrov (Rus) and 8. Giunior Ghedina (Ger).

The results (final qualifying round) : Serguei Demekhine (Rus) bt Nipun Gupta 6-1, 6-4; Roy Sichel (Isr) bt Kedar Tembe 6-4, 6-2; Somdev Dev Varman bt Anjan Viplav 6-3, 6-2; Elad Stern (Isr) bt Amod Wakalkar 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; Sandeep Kirtane bt Divij Sharan 6-1, 6-1; Naoki Arimoto (Jpn) bt Pavan Polvarpu 6-0, 6-1; Palivela Ravikrishna bt Dhananjay Kawade 6-2, 6-4; Rohan Gajjar bt Ashutosh Singh 6-2, 6-4.

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