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Tennis
By Kamesh Srinivasan
India's Ajay Ramaswami (right) and Sunil Kumar, who won the doubles title, in action against compatriots Vishaal Uppal and Mustafa Ghouse in the final at the ITF Futures tennis tournament in Dehra Dun on Saturday. — Photo: S. Subramanium
The second-seeded duo was on a high after having won a similar title last week in Nakhorn Ratchasima, Thailand. Yet, it was a clinical performance, the way Ajay and Sunil played their strokes making the top-seeded team across the net look pedestrian. Once Ajay saved a breakpoint to hold serve in the fifth game, the pendulum had swung in favour of the second seeds. The duo won the next eight games to make it a one-sided affair. There was some drama in the long-drawn fifth game of the second set, when Ajay saved four breakpoints to hold serve. Mustafa did well to save a matchpoint on his serve in the sixth game, and the top-seeded pair was thus able to win a face-saving game. When Sunil served for the match in the next game, he saved a breakpoint, and the duo converted the third matchpoint, with Ajay aptly putting the finishing touch with an overhead. It was Ajay's intense play and Sunil's fluency that won the day for them. It was the fourth title in the Futures circuit for the pair, and the third of the season, the first having come in Tunisia. It was Ajay's 10th Futures doubles title. The sixth other titles had come with Prahlad Srinath (3), Harsh Mankad (2) and Mustafa Ghouse. Maybe the fact that Vishaal and Mustafa had expended some energy earlier in the morning in completing their semifinals against Kamala Kannan and Manoj Mahadevan had something to do with the meek surrender in the final. But, there was no denying the credit to Ajay and Sunil who played an entertaining game to collect $630. The runners-up pocketed $330.
Punna Vishal loses
While it was an all Indian final in doubles, there was no such factor in the singles, as the lone Indian semifinalist, Punna Vishal went down in three sets to fellow qualifier Nick Crawley of Britain. Punna was presented the first set by Crawley, as the Briton served three doublefaults in getting broken in the tenth game. However, Punna was unable to capitalise on the initiative, as he failed to put up any resistance in the next two sets, winning a mere two games. Six matches on the trot had apparently sapped the energy of Punna. A fight looked to be brewing in the decider, when Punna saved a breakpoint at 4-4, but an injudicious approach to the net following a second serve, saw him netting a half-volley. That break proved decisive, as Crawley made it to his maiden final at this level, by holding serve, converting his third matchpoint. It may be difficult for Crawley to assert himself against the third-seeded Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi, who made it to the final defeating the fleet-footed Dmitri Mazur of Uzbekistan. The 23-year-old Qureshi served 13 aces in his 6-4, 6-4 victory. There was some consolation for Mazur, as he had made it to the main draw of the tournament next week in Delhi, as the last entry, following the withdrawal of Prakash Amritraj. The results: Singles (semifinals): Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pak) bt Dmitri Mazur (Uzb) 6-4, 6-4; Nick Crawley (GBR) bt Punna Vishal 4-6, 6-0, 6-4. Doubles (final): Ajay Ramaswami and Sunil Kumar bt Vishaal Uppal and Mustafa Ghouse 6-2, 6-1; Semifinals: Vishaal Uppal and Mustafa Ghouse bt Kamala Kannan and Manoj Mahadevan 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6).
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