Date:21/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/21/stories/2007122160882100.htm

Sport - Tennis

Vishnu Vardhan shocks Ashutosh

S. Sabanayakan

Ranjeeth makes short work of Fazaluddin

— Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

SMOOTH SAILING: V.M. Ranjeeth of Tamil Nadu had a rather easy outing against Syed Fazaluddin of Bengal.

KOLKATA: Ashutosh Singh’s dream of winning the Indian Oil Servo National grasscourt tennis championship lay tattered at the South Club here on Thursday. The second seed from Delhi, aiming to earn a wild card berth to the Chennai Open early next year by winning the singles crown, was undone by an ankle injury. Sixth seed from Andhra Pradesh J. Vishnu Vardhan made the most of the opportunity to make it to the semifinals of the men’s singles with a 6-4, 6-0 victory.

But the match of the day was between top seed Karan Rastogi and wild card entry and former Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad. In an action-packed 121 minute match produced some scintillating rallies, brilliant serves and passing shots that enthralled the spectators. The final verdict, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, went in favour of the younger player who reaffirmed his claim to the title.

Rushmi through

In the distaff side, only top seed Rushmi Chakravarthi and eight seed Shalini Sahoo of Delhi remained in fray. Rushmi put out seventh seed Rashmi Teltumbde of Maharashtra while unseeded Poojashree Venkatesh of Karnataka and Treta Bhattacharyya of Bengal sent packing third seed Asha Nanda Kumar of Karnataka and sixth seed Ragini Vimal of Bengal respectively. Second seed Sonal Phadke of Maharashtra lost to Shalini 3-6, 1-6.

The encounter which had caught everyone’s attention was the one between former champion Syed Fazaluddin of Bengal and V.M. Ranjeeth of Tamil Nadu. Fazal, son of former India football coach Syed Nayeemuddin, not only upset the third seed Aditya Madkekar of Karnataka in the previous round but had raised visions of magic with his serve and volley game. But Ranjeeth needed just an hour and eight minutes to win 6-1, 6-2.

Harsh Mankad took a good lead of 4-2 in the first set breaking Rastogi in the very first game. The 21-year-old was not one to keep quiet and roared back by breaking Mankad in the eighth and tenth game to take the set at 6-4 in 30 minutes.

Mankad again broke Rastogi in the first and seventh games to take a 5-2 lead in the next set. Despite Rastogi breaking back serves in the eighth and holding serve in the next to close the gap to 4-5, Mankad recovered after squandering four set points in the 10th game before converting the fifth and equalising the match. Rastogi broke Mankad’s serve in the second and sixth game while losing his own in the fifth game. Yet, it did not matter as Rastogi ensured victory and a place in the semifinals.

In the last-four stage, Rastogi will meet Sharan and Ranjeeth will take on Vardhan.

The results (prefix denotes seeding):

Singles quarterfinals: Men: 1-Karan Rastogi (Mah) bt Harsh Mankad (Mah) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; 4-Dijiv Sharan (Dli) bt 7-Vinod Sridhar (TN) 6-4, 6-3; V.M. Ranjeeth (TN) bt Syed Fazaluddin (Ben) 6-1, 6-2; 6-J. Vishnu Vardhan (AP) bt 2-Ashutosh Singh (Dli) 6-4, 6-0. Women: 1-Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN) bt 7-Rashmi Teltumbde (Mah) 6-1, 6-2; Poojashree Venkatesh (Kar) bt 3-Asha Nanda Kumar (Kar) 7-5, 6-1; Treta Bhattacharyya (Ben) bt 6-Ragini Vimal (Ben) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; 8-Shalini Sahoo (Dli) bt 2-Sonal Phadke (Mah) 6-3, 6-1.

Doubles semifinals: Men: 3-J. Vishnu Vardhan (AP) & Vinod Sridhar (TN) w/o 1-Divij Sharan & Ashutosh Singh (Dli); 4-N. Sriram Balaji & V.M. Ranjeeth (TN) bt 2-Aditya Madkekar (Kar) & Rohan Gajjar (Mah) 6-3, 4-6, (10-1).