The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sugiyama given pride of place

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 28, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Sugiyama given pride of place

By Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI, JUNE 27. The competition has reached the business end and it is time for the players who have slogged for nearly a month in the heat and dust of Northern India to be rewarded for their efforts in the ITF Satellite tennis circuit.

With three champions emerging from the first three legs, it is impossible for anyone to win the maximum possible 46 ATP points from the circuit when the Masters event begins at the DLTA Complex here on Monday. That means there will be more players sharing the spoils.

It has been a relatively easy circuit for the handful of Englishmen, the odd Japanese and most of the Indians who would all be collecting plenty of ATP points, thanks mainly to the last minute decision by the host to offer hospitality.

In effect, it will mean that the ATP points for the circuit will be given on par with a $50,000 circuit — rather than a $25,000 prize money event — and the top two finishers of the circuit will get 8 and 4 additional ATP points.

Norikazu Sugiyama of Japan has been seeded No. 1 thanks to his collection of 37 circuit points. Vijay Kannan will be the dark horse in the Japanese quarter of the draw and the ONGC employee is quite capable of beating anyone in this circuit.

Vishaal Uppal has shown plenty of tricks in winning three titles in as many weeks, including two back-to-back titles in doubles with Ajay Ramaswami. The gangling GAIL employee, if he plays to form, should meet Aqeel Khan of Pakistan in the quarterfinals.

The two have a 1-1 head-to-head record and it should be an interesting clash, as the winner of the match would stand to gain an additional five ATP points on the conversion table. That is, if both survive their second round after a bye.

The champion of the first leg, Joshua Goodall of Britain, would have recharged his batteries after conceding his match in the third week with a bout of illness. In fact, the Britons started with a bang with three of them making the semifinals in the first leg at Indore. As the luck of the draw would have it, all three — Goodall, Richard Irwin and David Brewer — are placed together and only one of them can make the quarterfinals.

Vinod Sridhar's form has been erratic but if he plays to potential he will be a hard nut to crack for Goodall and company.

Prahlad Srinath has been keeping a low profile after being the only Indian to figure in the semifinals in the first week. The 31-year-old deputy manager from Indian Oil in Bangalore is playing as well as he can at this stage of his career and is capable of going all the way. Especially so, as the fourth-seeded Sunil Kumar in Srinath's quarter has been hampered by a hip strain which saw him concede the final midway through the match against Sugiyama on Saturday.

The Indian players who struggle in similar circuits in the U.S. and Australia, trying to qualify for the main event week after week from the 128-draw qualifying phase and at times ending up without an ATP point to show for their efforts, would definitely appreciate the happy tidings at home and possibly grab everything that comes their way — points and prize money.

The seedings: 1. Norikazu Sugiyama (Jpn), 2. Vishaal Uppal, 3. Joshua Goodall (GBR), 4. Sunil Kumar, 5. Aqeel Khan (Pak), 6. Vinod Sridhar, 7. Vijay Kannan and 8. Prahlad Srinath.

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