The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : ATP Challenger from today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 17, 2006

Sport

Sport - Tennis

ATP Challenger from today

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

CHIKMAGLUR: Tennis players will literally wake up and smell the coffee as the main draw of the Coffee Cup ATP Challenger tournament kicks off at the Centenary Stadium courts on Monday in this hill station famous for its verdant coffee estates and salubrious weather.

Three synthetic hard courts have been laid, costing nearly Rs 40 lakh, though the fourth practice court is not yet ready and has left some players frustrated.

"This tournament will give a big push to the game's popularity in small towns but the absence of a practice court is a problem," said KSLTA secretary Sunder Raju, while lauding the district administration's drive to host the tournament and revive the region's dormant tennis culture.

"I'm happy that we are hosting this event and I'm sure that the tennis facilities will enhance the region's tourism potential," said district commissioner Harsh Gupta, who played a big part in helping the new complex take shape.

Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna will lead the Indian challenge at the $25,000 tournament.

Hyung Lee is top seed

World No. 108 Hyung Lee of Korea is the top seed. Following him in the list are Thailand's Danai Udomchoke, Taipei's Yen Hsun, Poland's Lukasz Kubot and Czech Republic's Pavel Snobel.

In their opening rounds scheduled on Tuesday, sixth-seeded Prakash will face Henry Adjei Darko of Ghana, while seventh-seeded Bopanna will take on qualifier Camil Capkovic of Slovakia.

Harsh Mankad has withdrawn from the event after suffering a knee injury.

Both Bopanna and Prakash believe that they have enough firepower to win the event. "It's all about playing consistently," said Prakash. For Bopanna — who hails from the neighbouring district of Coorg — it's all about the feeling of playing nearer home though he would have preferred to fight it out in the familiar environs of Bangalore. "The courts are a bit slow," he opined.

The other main Indian challengers in the fray are Karan Rastogi, Vishal Uppal, Mustafa Ghouse, Kiran Nandkumar and Navdeep Singh.

The results: Qualifiers (final round): Orest Tereshchuk (Ukr) bt Ravishankar Pathanjali 6-1, 6-4; Sergei Bubka Jr (Ukr) bt Philip King (USA) 7-6(6), 6-4; Camil Kapkovic (Svk) bt Amit Imbar (Isr) 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2; Marco Chuidinelli (Sui) bt Victor Kulick (Isr) 6-2, 6-0.

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