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Suchanan looking for an encore

By Khalyan N. Ashok

BANGALORE Sept. 7. The ITF women's Circuit caravan rolled into Bangalore after a long haul from Delhi and with little respite as the players got down to as much practice as possible before the main draw on Monday.

There is a lot at stake for the Indian girls in the second Indian Oil Servo $10,000 ITF Futures here after missing the bus in Delhi. The conditions are better, with a cooler weather and good fan support in the stands, but the Indians need the resolve to pull it off.

In a field which has a few foreigners, it should be a good run for the Indian girls like Megha Vakharia, Samrita Sekar, Rushmi Chakravarthi, Isha Lakhani, Sai Jayalakshmy, Sonal Phadke, Shruti Dhawan, Ankita Bhambri, Archana Venkatraman and Sheetal Goutham if they perform to their potential.

At Delhi, none seemed to have had a clue to stop the smooth-stroking Suchanan Viratprasert of Thailand, who is again the top seed. And the Thai girl, ranked 298, is looking for an encore. "It would be nice to win again,'' she said.

The Delhi event was a memorable one for the young Samrita Sekar. The young lass from Chennai showed enough staying power and consistency to beat seasoned players like Rushmi and Sai before Suchanan stopped her in the semifinals.

Another Indian semifinalist was Megha who lost from the jaws of victory against doubles partner Chin Bee Khoo of Malaysia. She will be expecting to make amends here. The other Indian challengers faded in the last eight round in Delhi.

The opening round, which unfolds on Monday morning, has a few interesting encounters. Local girl Iciri Rai, who has been given a wildcard, meets Natalia Neri of Great Britain while the other wildcard Varsha Shivshankar takes on Samrita. Ankita battles another local contender Asha Nandakumar.

On Tuesday, in a replay of the Delhi event, Sai clashes swords with Sheetal. On home court, Sheetal holds the advantage. In other encounters, National champion Isha faces Geetha Manohar and Suchanan takes on Madhura Ranganathan. Chin-Bee Khoo, the second seed, meets qualifier Chirashanthi Rajur.

Earlier today, Chirashanthi made the main draw with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Swetha Devaraj. The other qualifiers were Nandini Perumal, Sandra Gangotri, Sandhya Nagaraj, Ragini Vimal, Sandra Sasidharan, Parul Goswami and Punam Reddy.

Ms. Sheetal Iyer will be the chief referee of the tournament. The ITF event kicks off a series of high-profile ventures by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, which plans to unveil an International Tennis Academy and host three men's Challenger events later this month.

The seedings:

Singles: 1. Suchanan Viratprasert (Tha); 2. Chin Bee Khoo (Mas); 3. Rushmi Chakravarthi; 4. Megha Vakharia; 5. Isha Lakhani; 6. Sai Jayalakshmy; 7. Sonal Phadke and 8. Archana Venkatraman.

Doubles: 1. Rushmi Chakravarthi/Sai Jayalakshmy; 2. Chin-Bee Khoo/Megha Vakharia; 3. Shruti Dhawan/Sonal Phadke and 4. Geetha Manohar/Suchanan Viratprasert.

The results (second and final qualifying round): Nandini Perumal bt Pooja Komireddi 6-2, 6-4; Sandra Gangotri bt Lata Asudani 6-2, 6-4; Sandhya Nagaraj bt Anupama Rajur 6-3, 6-1; Chirashanthi Rajur bt Swetha Devaraj 6-4, 6-3; Ragini Vimal bt Saranya Pattabhi 6-2, 6-2; Sandra Sasidharan bt Vishika Chhetri 6-0, 3-6, 6-2; Parul Goswami bt Jahnvi Sunderrajan 6-4, 6-1; Punam Reddy bt S. Preethi 6-4, 6-4.

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