Date:02/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/02/stories/2008120255981700.htm

Sport - Tennis

Arjun Goutham moves up

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Arjun Goutham played sober to outwit qualifier Akash Wagh 6-4, 7-6(4) in the first round of the DSCL National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex here on Monday.

While the eighth-seeded Arjun unleashed a solid game in a steady fashion, the talented 18-year-old left-hander, Akash, lacked the intensity of concentration to do justice to his potential.

Akash failed to drive home the advantage while leading 4-2 in the tie-break of the second set.

Akash not only failed to add another point to his name, but provided an anticlimactic finish to his challenge with two double faults in the end.

In another match, wild card Aditya Madkekar, who has recently returned to the circuit after a long lay-off, proved too good for the fifth-seeded Yannick Nelord. The latter won only six games but could take solace from the fact that it was four more than what he had managed in their last meeting.

Sriram Balaji got past former National champion Vinod Sridhar, as the latter retired with a knee problem, after two sets.

The fourth-seeded Vijay Sundar Prashant dismissed the National junior champion Abhijeet Tiwari for the loss of one game, but the second-seeded Rohan Gide had to sweat it out against Rubal Shandilya. Gide won in three sets.

Mithun Murali recorded an impressive 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 victory over Saurav Sukul, in three hours and 10 minutes. The results (firs round): V.M. Ranjeet b A.S. Suresh Krishna 6-3, 6-3; Prateek Bhambri bt Vikas Chauhan 6-3, 6-1; Palash Tiwari bt Sandeep Choudhary 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Arjun Goutham bt Akash Wagh 6-4, 7-6(4); P.C. Vignesh bt Javed Hazary 6-1, 6-1; Bhishma Desai bt Ashwin Nambi 6-2, 7-6(1); Mithun Murali bt Saurav Sukul 6-4, 5-7, 7-5; Kamala Kannan bt Deepinder Bains 6-2, 6-3; Aditya Madkekar bt Yannick Nelord 6-3, 6-3; Ketan Dhumal bt Shantanu Rajput 6-3, 6-2; Vijayant Malik bt Mohammed Fariz 6-3, 6-2; Vijay Sundar Prashant bt Abhijeet Tiwari 6-0, 6-1; Sriram Balaji bt Vinod Sridhar 2-6, 6-2 (retd.); Ronak Manuja bt Vedant Kapoor 6-4, 6-1; Rahil Makharia bt Elwin Antony 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Rohan Gide bt Rubal Shandilya 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.