Sport - Tennis   

Vishal sends Nitin Kirtane packing

By Kalyan Ashok

Punna Vishal, who upset fourth seed Nitin Kirtane, is set for a forehand return in the Stellar-ITF Futures tennis championship at Gulbarga on Wednesday. — Photo: K Gopinathan

GULBARGA Aug. 28. When Punna Vishal came to the court for his second round match against Nitin Kirtane, it was a source of joy for the goodly crowd. But the `Marathon Man' Vishal had the last laugh, as he packed punch in his serve to dismantle the fourth seed Kirtane 6-4, 6-4 to enter the quarterfinals of the Stellar-ITF Futures tennis championship at the Chandrashekar Patil stadium here today.

For the 18-year old Vishal, it was one of the most memorable triumphs and his first in his five meetings with Kirtane. The big-serving Vishal had a long day on the court. He began with a marathon first round match against Kedar Tembe. Vishal battled every point to down at 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5 in three hours and 20 minutes. Vishal was back after two hours for the tie against Kirtane, which he won comprehensively. The young lad, certainly deserves his place in the last eight round, just for his grit alone.

Ajay Ramaswamy has been one of the notable performers on the circuit, though short on luck when it mattered most, the stocky Mumbaikar played solid tennis. Ramaswamy scripted a fluent 6-2, 6-0 victory over Amanjyot Singh in 50 minutes to make the quarterfinals.

Earlier on the centre court, the third seeded Viktor Bruthans blasted off an error-prone Sonchat Ratiwatana of Thailand 6-1, 6-0.

Vijay Kannan crashes out

The fifth seed and the finalist of the Delhi leg, Vijay Kannan crashed out in the first round losing to the qualifier, Sean Cooper of Ireland at 6-7 (5-7), 1-6. Vijay kannan struggled to find his rhythm in the match and after dropping the first set, he cracked under pressure.

Sunil Kumar continued his march, beating Kamala Kannan 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to enter the quarterfinals.

Withdrawals

Three more players including the top seed, Rohan Bopanna, the Israeli Zirkin, Sanchai Ratiwatana of Thailand were forced to pull out of the event. The main complaints being dehydration and stomach upset.

Bopanna, who won a tough opener against Vinod Sridhar on the opening day, kept his option this morning about continuing in the tournament. But then decided to give a walk over to the young Rohan Gajjar, his second round rival.

"I could not eat or drink since last night and even a few slices of sandwich I had this morning, I had to throw up. No way I could have stood and played today, given the conditions.'', said Rohan Bopanna. The Indian Davis Cupper also felt that he needed rest before the crucial Davis Cup contest against Australia, which is coming up in a few weeks time from now. "Right now, I wish to go home (Bangalore ) and then decide about the Chennai leg later'', he said.

Zirkin on the other hand went through the tough opener against the fellow Israeli, and the eighth seed Eliran Dooyev before retiring in the decider, citing cramps. Dooyev led 4-6, 7-5, 2-0 at that stage.

Sanchai Ratiwatana's pull out meant that the Thai pair of Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana are no longer in the doubles main draw. The doubles opening line-up took a beating due to the withdrawals.

Bopanna's pull out saw the top seeded pair of Vijay Kannan and Bopanna, get out of picture and similarly, Mustafa Ghouse, who conceded his opening singles on Tuesday, decided not to play in the doubles also. Rishi Sridhar and Rohan Gajjar duo too have withdrawn from the main draw. The withdrawals in the opening round forced the ITF Supervisor, Puneet Gupta, to accommodate alternate pairs.

The line-up for the singles quarterfinals: Ajay Ramaswamy v Rohan Gajjar; Viktor Bruthans (SVK) v Alexy Ageev (Rus); Eliran Dooyev (Israel) v Punna Vishal; Sunil Kumar v Roy Sichel (Israel).

The results (prefix indicates seedings): Singles second round: 3-Viktor Bruthans (SVK) bt Sonchat Ratiwatana (Thai) 6-1, 6-0; 7-Ajay Ramaswamy bt Amanjyot Singh 6-2, 6-0; 6-Sunil Kumar bt Kamala Kannan 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; Roy Sichel (Isr) bt Chowdapalli Ajay 6-3, 6-3; Alexie Ageev (Rus) bt Sean Cooper (Irl) 5-7, 6-0, 7-5; Punna Vishal bt 4-Nitin Kirtane 6-4, 6-4; 8-Eliran Dooyev (Isr) bt Cairan Moore (RSA) 6-3, 6-2; Rohan Gajjar w/o 1-Rohan Bopanna.

First round: Sean Cooper (Irl) bt 5-Vijay Kannan 7-6 (7-5), 6-1; Alexie Ageev (Rus) bt Igor Branisa (SVK) 6-0, 1-6, 6-4; Chowdapalli Ajay bt Somdev Varman 1-6, 7-6 (8-6) 6-1. Punna Vishal bt Kedar Tembe 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5; Eliran Dooyev (ISR) bt Maor Zirkin 4-6, 7-5, 2-0 (conceded); Nitin Kirtane bt Alexie Filenkov (Rus) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles (first round): Viktor Bruthans & Michael Varsanyi (SVK) bt Shivang Misra (Ind) & Cairan Moore (RSA) 6-1, 6-1; Roy Sichel and Dekel Valtzer (Isr) bt Jaco T. Mathew and Somdev Verman (Ind) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: | Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Athletics

• Saraswati breaks 23-second barrier
  
  Cricket
  
• Laxman, Jaffer bat well
• It could go to the last man standing
• Sriram, Badani hit centuries
• The stalemate continues
  
  Golf
  
• Ranjit takes lead
  
  Sports : General
  
• Sport Digest
  
  Tennis
  
• Vishal sends Nitin Kirtane packing
  
  

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu