Date:01/02/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/02/01/stories/2003020104832200.htm

Sport - Tennis

Rain plays spoilsport

By Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI JAN. 31. Persistent rain forced the abandonment of play in the Oriental Bank of Commerce Grade-3 ITF junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Friday.

The bleak weather, however, could not stop the top-seeded Montinee Tangphong of Thailand from making it to the final of the girls' section, as the sixth-seeded Ankita Bhambri gave a walkover.

Ankita was scheduled to catch the flight to Hyderabad on Saturday morning for the qualifying event of the $140,000 WTA tournament. She, thus, expressed her inability to comply with the rescheduled programme of the tournament here.

Ankita's sister, Sanaa Bhambri will play the other semifinal against qualifier Iryna Tsymbal of Ukraine. Iryna stood to gain by her progress, as she would be extended a `special exempt' entry into the main draw of the tournament in Chandigarh next week, rather than having to go through the qualifying event scheduled to start on Saturday.

With the semifinals rescheduled for Saturday, the finals will be held a day beyond the schedule on Sunday. It would also mean that Dominic Inglot and Max Jones of Britain, still figuring in the doubles event, would be given the `special exempt' status into the main draw of the Chandigarh tournament.

For most of the players, busy in tournaments for the last few weeks, be it in Australia or Bangladesh, it was a welcome relief to have unscheduled rest, the inclement weather was a worrying factor for the organisers who had managed to get the sanction for `live' coverage from Doordarshan for Saturday.