Thursday, Nov 20, 2003
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Tennis
By Kamesh Srinivasan
Vinodh Sridhar executes a double-fisted backhand against Oleg Ogorodov of Uzbekistan in the ITF Futures tennis tournament in Dehradun on Wednesday. — Photo: S. Subramanium
Ogorodov was no patch of his former self when he had been consistently at the top of the list, at least in Asia. The aged Uzbek, more as a coach here, tried a few tricks but the GAIL employee, Vinod was far too crafty and racing to a creditable win. Down an early break in both the sets, Vinod fought his way back to post a 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 triumph. Vinod, who completed the proceedings in a dramatic fashion with three aces, will play lucky-loser Naim Lalji of Britain who ousted the former National champion Nitin Kirtane. The only other seed in the bottom half, Vijay Kannan, the Afro-Asian Games champion was ousted by his Chennai mate Manoj Mahadevan in straight sets at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) courts. Manoj served better and stroked with conviction in getting out of a poor run in recent weeks when he failed to win a round in two weeks, in the qualifying events of similar tournaments in Thailand. The top-seeded Harsh Mankad was in fine touch as he dismissed qualifier Phillipe De Bonnevie of France for the loss of two games. He will be challenged by Dmkitri Mazur of Uzbekistan in the next round. Another qulaifier, Tushar Liberhan, more busy in the grade `IV' and `V' tournaments in the junior circuit, beat fellow qualifier Jaco Mathew in three sets. Tushar led 5-3 in the second set, but a bout of nerves saw his advantage slipping away. In the decider, Jaco led 5-3 and was serving at 5-4, but could not finish the contest in his favour. Mustafa Ghouse served 14 aces in beating Michael Ouvarov of Britain in straight sets, but will have the unenviable task of crossing swords with Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan in the second round. The talented Pakistani displayed a firebrand game and tremendous fighting qualities in defeating Melvyn Op Der Heijde of the Netherlands 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-5. A favourable net-chord saw the third-seeded clinch a vital break in the ninth game of the second set. Aisam smacked a forehand winner down the line in the 11th game of the decider, to clinch another key break, and served thunderbolts to wind up the contest in two hours and 11 minutes. Ajay Ramaswami fell in three sets after winning the first against anther Dutch player, the fifth-seeded Matwe Middelkoop. Punna Vishal tamed wild card Karan Rastogi 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 after he had nearly squandered a 5-2 lead in the decider. He will play lucky-loser Sergei Krotiouk of Russia who beat Somdev Dev Varman in another three setter. The Russian was quite thrilled with his progress and walked on his hands half way to the net to shake hands with Somdev, after delivering an ace on matchpoint. The results: Singles (first round): Harsh Mankad bt Phillipe De Bonnevie (Fra) 6-1, 6-1; Mikhail Ledovskikh (Rus) bt Varun Walia 6-2, -1; Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pak) bt Melvyn Op Der Heijde (Ned) 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-5; Mustafa Ghouse bt Michael Ouvarov (GBR) 6-3, 6-3; Tushar Liberhan bt Jaco Mathew 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5; Marwe Middelkoop (Ned) bt Ajay Ramaswami 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; Vinod Sridhar bt Oleg Ogorodov (Uzb) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4; Naim Lalji bt Nitin Kirtane 6-4, 6-2; Punna Vishal bt Karan Rastogi 6-2, 3-6, 7-5; Sergei Krotiouk (Rus) bt Somdev Dev Varman 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Manoj Mahadevan bt Vijay Kannan 6-4, 6-3; Yaroslav Sorokin (Ukr) bt Renouk Wijemanne (Sri) 6-4, 6-1; Nick Crawley (GBR) bt Ritesh Chitlangiya 6-1, 6-3; Dymtro Tolok (Ukr) bt Vaja Uakov (Uzb) 6-4, 6-3. Qualifying event (third and final round): Ritesh Chitlangiya bt Manchit Madan 6-4, 6-3. Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Ajay Ramaswami and Sunil Kumar bt Adrian Gavrila (Rom) and Mohammed Mohazebina (Iri) 6-2, 6-4.
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