The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Rushmi has it easy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Rushmi has it easy

By Kamesh Srinivasan

LUCKNOW, MAY 24. The cyclonic spell that whistled through the city early in the morning was strong enough to pull down a few trees in the Uttar Pradesh capital. However, the sudden rain was not good enough to upset the opening day's programme of the $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament, except for delaying the start by about three hours, at the Oudh Gymkhana Club courts here on Monday.

Quite expectedly the grass courts played slow and low, but there was no magic in the air to inspire the lesser lights to put their best foot forward as all the seven singles matches saw at least one set that was won at love. The top-seeded Rushmi Chakravarthi needed a mere 30 minutes, even as she played cautiously, to beat qualifier Neha Rana for the loss of one game.

Delhi girl Parul Goswami had a lucky turn as her eighth-seeded opponent, Iciri Rai failed to report, following a twisted ankle. Parul beat lucky loser Oormila Ram for the loss of two games. More than Parul gaining from the win, the tall Bangalore girl, Iciri may stand to lose as much as $500 as fine for not having fulfilled her commitment to play in the tournament.

Had she not been a seed, the penalty for absence after the draw had been made may have been only $375, but Iciri may lose a lot of money, equivalent to the prize for a semifinalist at this level, for taking the sting out of this tournament with her absence.

Another tall player from Hyderabad, the national junior champion, Punam Reddy started fluently, winning the first eight games, before downing Chirashanthi Rajur for the loss of three games. With her improved confidence following sponsorship support from Sanghi Industries, the talented left-hander made light of the uneven bounce to romp home in 41 minutes. She will play the winner of the match between the second-seeded Ankita Bhambri and Sandri Gangothri.

Ankita gave a warning signal to the rest by winning her doubles match with Rushmi at love against the Delhi girls Neha Rana and Vishaka Sheoran.

Rushmi's regular partner Sai Jayalakshmy was playing with Archana Venkataraman and the second-seeded pair did not sweat much in beating Samrita Sekar and Sandhya Nagaraj.

The fifth-seeded Susanne Aigner of Austria looked a fish out of water with her pronounced western grip, but was not pushed hard by an erratic Khushchehr Italia, though the match hotted up midway through the second set. Susanne may have it tough against Nudnida Luangnam of Thailand in the next round.

Local girl Naina Karsolia had a few supporters cheering for her, but she made a quick exit against the athletic Dorian Driessen of the Netherlands.

In the doubles, the third-seeded Sheethal Goutham and Preeti Rao apart from the fourth-seeded Geeta Manohar and Liza Pereira sailed into the quarterfinals.

The results:

Singles: First round: Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Neha Rana 6-0, 6-1; Orawan Lamangthong (Tha) bt Anupama Rajur 6-2, 6-0; Parul Goswami bt Oormila Ram 6-2, 6-0; Susanne Aigner (Aut) Khushchehr Italia 6-0, 6-3; Nudninda Luangnam (Tha) bt Sagarika Phadke 6-0, 6-4; Dorian Driessen (Ned) bt Naina Karsolia 6-2, 6-0; Punam Reddy bt Chirashanthi Rajur 6-0, 6-3.

Doubles: Pre-quarterfinals: Ankita Bhambri/Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Neha Rana/Vishaka Sheoran 6-0, 6-0; Sheethal Goutham/Preeti Rao bt Naoko Horikawa (Jpn)/Nudnida Luangnam (Tha) 6-2, 6-3; Yi Chen (Tpe)/Sagarika Phadke bt Shilpi Jaiswal/Samia Jalali 6-2, 6-2; Geeta Manohar/Liza Pereira bt Karishma Patel/Sonal Phadke 6-4, 6-3; Sai Jayalakshmy/Archana Venkataraman bt Sandhya Nagaraj/Samrita Sekar 6-2, 6-1.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport