The Hindu : Qualifier Lam puts it across Natalia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 12, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Qualifier Lam puts it across Natalia

By Keerthivasan

CHENNAI FEB. 11. Qualifier Po Kuen Lam, a the top-ranked player in Hong Kong, made it a day to remember easing past third seed Natalia Dziamidzenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Madras Gymkhana Club ITF $10,000 women's tennis championship at the club courts here on Tuesday. This is the first time in her outings in India that Lam has lasted the first round.

The 20-year-old Social Science student from the University of Hong Kong rallied effectively from the baseline and did not allow the Belarus girl to settle into any sort of rhythm. However, after taking a 5-1 lead in the second set, Lam lost her way losing the eighth game to make the score 4-5. But she did not panic further and finished the match by serving out the tenth game in style.

"I am excited to have won the match, more so because I will get a bonus point for beating a seeded player," said Lam, ranked 937 in the WTA list. "The last time in the $10,000 tourney in Mumbai in February last, I lost in first round, and then again in the next week in a $25,000 tourney in New Delhi I lost in the qualifying rounds."

It was qualifiers day out as four of them including Lam upset higher-ranked opponents. Sixteen-year-old qualifier Elena Vesnina of Russia out-hit Sonal Phadke of India 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 12 minutes. In another energy sapping match that saw two players slogging it out from the baseline, qualifier Olga Panova outlasted Shruti Dhawan 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

Nineteen-year-old Megha Vakharia had her chances but was unable to make the most of it, partly due to the consistent backcourt play of the second seeded Suchanan Viratprasert. Megha fought back wonderfully well after being down 1-4 with some exciting winners from the backcourt. The second seeded Thai eventually won 6-4, 6-3.

Geeta Manohar was in the driver's seat leading 4-0 in the first set against qualifier Ivanna Israilova, but the Uzbek hit back taking the next six games in a row, and then cruised ahead in the second to post a 6-4, 6-3 win.

The results (I round): (Indian unless otherwise specified): Elena Vesnina (Rus) bt Sonal Phadke 6-4, 6-2; Olga Panova (Rus) bt Shruti Dhawan 6-3, 7-6 (7-2); Ivanna Israilova (Uzb) bt Geeta Manohar 6-4, 6-3; Sheetal Goutham bt Keiko Tameishi (Jpn) 6-2, 7-5; Suchanan Viratprasert (Tha) bt Megha Vakharia 6-4, 6-3; Eva Hoch (Aut) bt Nandini Perumal 6-3, 6-1; Da-Jung Hong (Kor) bt Maki Arai (Jpn) 6-4, 6-0; Po Kuen Lam (Hkg) bt Natalia Dziamidzenka (Bel) 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Rushmi Chakravarthi/Sai Jayalakshmi bt Olga Panova/Elena Vesnina (Rus) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-2; Shruti Dhawan/Sheethal Goutham bt Nandini Perumal/Yamini Thukkaiandi 6-4, 6-3; Wilawan Choptang/Montinee Tangphong (Tha) bt Natalia Dziamidzenka (Tha)/Megha Vakharia 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; Diana Julianto (Ina)/Radhika Tulpule bt Orawan Lamangthong (Tha)/Keiko Tameishi (Jpn) 6-2, 6-0; Sasha Abraham/Isha Lakhani bt Iciri Rao/Preeti Rao 6-3, 6-1; Maki Arai (Jpn)/Suchanan Viratprasert (Tha) bt Samrita Sekar/Archana Venkataraman 7-5, 6-1; Su Jin Kim/Da-Jung Hong (Kor) bt Sonal Phadke/Jouila Vorobieva (Rus) 6-2, 6-0; Akgul Amanmuradova/Ivanna Israilova (Uzb) bt Geeta Manohar/Liza Pereira 6-2, 6-2.

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