Friday, Jun 06, 2003
Friday, Jun 06, 2003 |
| Sport | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Sport
-
Tennis
By Nandakumar Marar
Rohan Gajjar celebrates after winning his quarterfinal tie against top seed Sunil Kumar Sipaeya in the ITF Satellite tournament in Mumbai on Thursday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre
Gajjar needed just one hour to record the biggest upset of the $ 6,250 event so far, winning 6-4, 6-4 in an hour. He managed one break each in both sets, besides giving enough indication of aggressive intent. The Mumbai lad banked on his height and power to get on top of the ball. Speed around the court and the ability to sustain pressure helped him keep the top seed on the run. Facing an opponent not giving him any scope to dictate terms, Sunil Kumar remained at the receiving end. Gajjar, not having the points to be among the seeded players in the singles draw, credited his improvement to the five-month training stint at Arkansas. "I played one great game in each set, getting the break and it made the difference," he said. "Five months of training at the University of Arkansas has made me mentally tougher, apart from improving my serve and groundstrokes." The top seed's exit in the quarterfinal stage puts Prakash Amritraj in pole position at No. 2. Prakash defeated sixth seed Vinod Sridhar 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) on an adjacent court at the Dr. G.A. Ranade Tennis Centre. Watching from the stands was father Vijay Amritraj, one of India's sporting legends and a tennis icon in his own right. The junior Amritraj gave no cause for alarm, getting sharper with every match, serving and volleying with confidence gained from the third consecutive victory. With Prakash at a critical stage of his professional career and looking to break into the Indian squad, the senior Amritraj talked about his 19-year-old's son's tennis ambitions. "Prakash is willing to play for India. It can happen in the next two months or next two years. He has a strong desire and is fully committed," observed Vijay. Vijay cleared technical doubts about his son's eligibility, informing that Prakash was registered with the International Tennis Federation as an Indian national. The recent Union Government's ruling on Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) also works in favour of the 19-year-old with dual nationality. He is representing the United States in the four-leg ITF Satellite Circuit, alongwith cousin and doubles partner Stephen Amritraj. The results (Indians unless specified): Men's singles (quarterfinals): Rohan Gajjar bt 1-Sunil Kumar Sipaeya 6-4, 6-4; Prima Simpatiaji (Ino) bt Mustafa Ghouse 7-6 (7-4), 6-1; Daniel Kiernan (GBR) bt Richard Crabtree (GBR) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3; 2-Prakash Amritraj (USA) bt 6-Vinod Sridhar 6-2, 7-6 (7-2). Men's doubles semifinals: Manoj Mahadevan/Rishi Sridhar bt Saurabh Kohli/Rohan Gajjar 6-4, 0-6, 6-4; Daniel Kiernan (GBR)/Ajay Ramaswami bt Hendri-Sushilo Pramono/Febi Widhiyanto (Ino) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. Quarterfinals: Kiernan/Ajay bt Prakash Amritraj/Stephen Amritraj (USA) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4; Hendri-Sushilo/Widhiyanto bt Sanchai/Sonchet Ratiwatana (Thn) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4; M. Mahadevan/R. Sridhar bt Mustafa Ghouse/Vishal Uppal 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; S. Kohli/R. Gajjar bt Vijay Kannan/Saurav Panja 6-2, 7-5.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
