The Hindu : Sport : Impressive show by Sweta; fairytale return for Harsimran

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Sport

Sport

Impressive show by Sweta; fairytale return for Harsimran

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Sweta Kumari Solanki defeated Oormila Ram 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 in the first round of the $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Tuesday.

Sweta, a 15-year-old, was able to assert her physical fitness in the decider. Actually, more than her physical ability, Sweta impressed with her positive approach as she went for the shots, not overawed by the tense situation. Oormila was good too but perhaps lacked conviction.

In another match, it was a fairytale return for qualifier Harsimran Kaur as she beat Anupama Rajur 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in an intense contest.

The 23-year-old Harsimran had last played in the professional circuit in November 2000 and a knee injury had kept the Chandigarh girl away from the game till she competed in the inter-university championship. Understandably, Harsimran was rusty in the qualifying round against Chirashanthi Rajur.

Staying focussed

But, against Chirashanthi's elder sister, Anupama, Harsimran played authentic strokes and kept her focus in the tense final set, to set up a second round against the eighth-seeded Geeta Manohar.

Harsimran lost the first set after leading 3-1, but she demonstrated her resolve in ample measure as she ran up a 5-0 lead in the second set.

In the decider, she led 3-1 before losing her way. However, Harsimran pulled off the last three games, breaking Anupama twice and converting her third match-point to go through to the next round.

Harsimran committed as many as 15 doublefaults. She could pose a serious threat in the next round if she can serve and move better.

The results:

Singles (first round): Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Madura Ranganathan 6-1, 6-0; Sandhya Nagaraj bt Asha Nandakumar 6-1, 6-3; Zhao Yi-Jing (Chn) bt Grace Hannah 6-0, 6-1; Sweta Kumari Solanki bt Oormila Ram 4-6, 7-5, 6-0; Archana Venkataraman bt Shivika Burman 6-0, 6-3; Poojashree Venkatesh bt Varsha Shivshankar 6-0, 6-1; Harsimran Kaur bt Anupama Rajur 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; Elizaveta Zaytseva (Rus) bt Janaki Gunuganti 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Tegan Edwards (RSA)/Sonal Phadke bt Vandana Murali/Madura Ranganathan 6-2, 7-5; Vishika Chhetri/Sandri Gangothri bt Sagarika Phadke/Chirashanthi Rajur 7-6(4), 2-1 (retired); Paarul Goswami/Geeta Manohar bt Akshitha Basavaraju/Vishakha Sheoran 6-1, 6-2; Krushmi Chheda/Karishma Patel bt Shivika Burman and Prerna Mythri 6-1, 6-4.

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