Sunday, Oct 26, 2003
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Afro-Asian Games
By Our Special Correspondent
The tennis event has been badly hit by withdrawals and as a result it was a case of direct semifinals in the men's team championships. The dropouts have brightened India's chances and today's contest against Philippines only served as further confirmation that India is the top team in the competition. But the captain of the Indian team, former Davis Cup player S.P. Misra, had a word of praise for the players from the Philippines. "They were no push-overs. They put up a good fight and made very few errors as compared to some of the other teams that I have been watching here," he said. In the first singles Rohan Bopanna got the better of Joseph Victorino 6-3, 6-2 and then Prakash Amritraj defeated Jhonny Arcilla the top ranked player of Philippines 6-3, 6-4. In the doubles the Indian pair of Vishal Uppal and Vijay Kannan beat Arcilla and Victorino 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. The first singles saw Bopanna take a 4-0 lead within no time as Victorino seemed unable to find his rhythm. A few mistakes by the latter only helped Bopanna's cause. But in the fourth game Victorino held his serve to win his first game. But despite a few glimpses of good touch play, the small built Phlippines player did not have enough firepower to get the better of Bopanna who was playing in a fairly relaxed manner. In the second set it was a more even battle as Victorino found his length and improved upon his accuracy. He was also able to work up some power. But Bopanna still playing easily, was able to counter all of Victorino's efforts to carve out an easy win. Similarly in the second singles, Prakash Amritraj demolished the top ranked Philippines player without much difficulty. Prakash displayed a strong and accurate first serve but at times seemed to be in a hurry to finish things off. This led to a few errors and helped Arcilla to pick up a few points. In the second set Arcilla put up a little more resistance and was able to test Prakash on occasions with some well placed forehands. However Prakash's game was clearly superior and despite his best efforts, there was little that Arcilla could do to prevent a straight-set win by the Indian.
Philippine women win
In the only women's match played this morning Philippines defeated Zimbabwe 3-0. There are five teams in the women's team championships so that means Philippines has qualified for the semifinals where it will meet Indonesia on Sunday. In the other semifinal India will take on Nigeria. In the women's section also, the host team's chances of picking up the gold seem very bright. The results: Women (quarterfinals): Philippines bt Zimbabwe 3-0 (Czarina Arevalo bt Fadzai Masiyazi 7-5, 6-4; Patricia Santos bt Fadzi Mawisre 6-1, 6-4; Czarina Arevalo and Patricia Santos bt Fadzai Masiyazi and Fadzi Mawisre 6-3, 6-2). Men (semifinals): India bt Philippines 3-0 (Rohan Bopanna bt Joseph Victorino 6-3, 6-2; Prakash Amritraj bt Jhonny Acrilla 6-3, 6-4; Vishal Uppal and Vijay Kannan bt Jhonny Arcilla and Joseph Victorino 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.); Nigeria bt Sri Lanka 2-1 (Abdul Babalova bt Harshana Godamanne 6-4, 6-2; Sunday Maku bt Rohan De Silva 6-3, 6-2; Abdul Babalova and Sunday Maku lost to Rohan De Silva and Harshana Godamanne 6-4, 3-6, 4-6).
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