The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Rushmi downs Gumulya

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 16, 2006

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Sport - Tennis

Rushmi downs Gumulya

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Rushmi Chakravarthi bounced back from the brink of defeat to pip Sandy Gumulya of Indonesia 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Thursday.

The 28-year-old from Chennai swung the match around on its head after the 20-year-old Indonesian failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set. It was a sweet revenge for Rushmi as she had lost to Gumulya in the final of a similar tournament in their only previous meeting in Hyderabad in 2004.

Rushmi was able to hit her way out of trouble after being 0-2 in the decider, in a nerve-wracking contest that spanned two hours and 16 minutes.

To meet Ankita Bhambri

Rushmi will next challenge the top-seed Ankita Bhambri against whom she enjoys a 5-2 career record in the ITF circuit. In fact, Rushmi had thwarted Ankita in three finals in a row, but had lost to the Delhi girl in straight sets in their last meeting in Lagos last year.

Ankita played a solid game as she outplayed the talented left-hander, Megha Vakaria who struggled to find her rhythm. Isha Lakhani proved too good for Parul Goswami and will meet the only foreigner left in the fray, the 774th ranked Ji Chun-Mei of China.

In the doubles semifinals, Isha and Pichittra Thongdach led 5-7, 6-4, 4-2 against Sandy Gumulya and Lavinia Tananta of Indonesia when a heavy dust storm and rain forced the abandonment of day's play.

The results (Indians unless specified): Singles (quarterfinals): Ankita Bhambri bt Megha Vakaria 6-3, 6-2; Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Sandy Gumulya (Ina) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; Ji Chun-Mei (Chn) bt Shalini Sahoo 6-2, 6-2; Isha Lakhani bt Parul Goswami 6-2, 6-3.

Doubles (semifinals): Rushmi Chakravarthi and Megha Vakaria bt Ji Chun-Mei and Ren Jing (Chn) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Isha Lakhani/Pichittra Thongdach (Tha) leads Sandy Gumulya/Lavinia Tananta (Ina) 5-7, 6-4, 4-2.

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