The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : It's Prakash vs. Karan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 09, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Tennis

It's Prakash vs. Karan

Special Correspondent

DEHRADUN: Prakash Amritraj was forced to play at his best to beat the 16-year-old Tsung-Hua Yang of Chinese Taipei in the semifinals of the ONGC $10,000 ITF men's Futures tennis tournament at the Shanti Academy here on Friday.

In a repeat of last week's final, Prakash will meet the top-seeded Karan Rastogi who arrested an alarming dip in his game to beat the erratic Sunil Kumar in three sets.

Deft strokes

The 23-year-old Prakash showed remarkable athleticism to quell a spirited challenge from Yang. The 7-5, 6-4 scoreline may not reflect the intensity of the contest, as Yang matched Prakash stroke for stroke and ended tough rallies with deft drop shots.

Prakash, sensing early the quality of the Taipei lad who had dropped just two games in first three matches, played with a high degree of focus and made the best choice while executing his strokes.

The Indian Davis Cupper did well to force a break in the 11th game of the first set and Yang, who was unable to withstand the pressure, obliged with a double fault on breakpoint.

In the second set, Prakash wrested the initiative once again with a break in the third game, but that only helped in bringing the best out of the Taipei lad who promptly broke back in the next game.

However, Prakash stepped up the pace of the contest to make it tough for Yang. The Indian broke again in the seventh game, and served out the match with a touch of assurance in the 10th game.

Lacking self-belief

The Karan-Sunil semifinal was not as absorbing. The 20-year-old Karan won because he had the confidence, while Sunil lacked self-belief. It was the third loss in a semifinal in the last five weeks for Sunil after his two semifinal entries in China.

In the doubles final, the top-seeded duo of Stephen Amritraj and Mustafa Ghouse outplayed Vinod Sridhar and Vijay Kannan in 46 minutes. The title was worth 12 ATP points and $630, while the runner-up had to be content with eight ATP points and $330.

The results:

Singles (semifinals): Karan Rastogi bt Sunil Kumar 6-2, 2-6, 6-2; Prakash Amritraj bt Tsung-Hua Yang (Tpe) 7-5, 6-4.

Doubles (final): Stephen Amritraj & Mustafa Ghouse bt Vijay Kannan & Vinod Sridhar 6-2, 6-1.

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

Sport