The Hindu : Wilawan cashes in on Rushmi's errors

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 11, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Wilawan cashes in on Rushmi's errors

By Nandakumar Marar

Thailand's Wilawan Choptang in action against Rushmi Chakravarthy of India in the quarterfinals of the ITF women's Futures in Mumbai on Thursday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre

MUMBAI APRIL 10. There are days when everything goes well. But Rushmi Chakravarthy may be feeling ditched on a day when neither form nor timing was on her side. The second-seeded Indian fell short by a mile, losing a three-setter to a honest trier from Thailand, Wilawan Choptang, after being considered as one of the title aspirants in the $ 10,000 International Tennis Federation's Women's Futures Mumbai leg (sponsored by Mother's Recipe). The eighth seed won 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 in a singles quarterfinal tie which had its twists and turns at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana on Thursday.

Rushmi found it difficult to assert herself in the face of sustained Thai aggression in the opener, then recovered her poise to collect points in the second and then got buried under an avalanche of errors in the decider.

Wilawan may consider herself fortunate to have caught the second seed on a day of misery, just when it appeared the Indian had convinced herself to better last week's performance at CCI where she finished second best.

The match can be separated into three phases, with the eighth-seeded Thai challenger outclassing the higher-ranked Indian in the early stages, then reeling under blows against a charged up Rushmi in the second set which expectedly went to the tie-breaker.

Just when her fans and fellow competitors were expecting the second seed to ride the upbeat mood and waltz through the decider came the dark phase. Regulation volleys failed to clear the net as the Indian went off the boil.

Wilawan, banking on decisive inside-out forehands, capitalised on most opportunities against a rival lapsing into negatives to clinch victory in two hours and 25 minutes for a semifinal place against favourite and fourth seed Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan on Friday.

Rushmi committed seven double-faults in the quarterfinal, struggled to get first serves in and though serving four aces, undid part of the good work with seven double-faults. The biggest upset of the event so far happened after a sensational recovery from 3-5 down to 5-5 in the second set, leading to the tie-breaker.

Two other Indians clinched semifinal berths, top seed Manisha Malhotra and third seed Sai Jayalakshmy winning their respective quarterfinals to set up an all-India clash to decide one finalist.

Manisha outran and outlasted Hungarian Szusanna Babos in three sets. Sai worked herself into form against fifth seed Chin-Bee Khoo of Malaysia for a comfortable win, probably putting her in a better frame of mind for the task ahead. The Women's ITF Futures is organised by SPG.

The results (Indians unless specified, quarterfinals):

Women's singles: 8-Wilawan Choptang (Tha) bt 2-Rushmi Chakravarthy 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3; 3-Sai Jayalakshmy bt 5-Chin-Bee Khoo (Mal) 6-3, 6-3; 4-Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) bt Diana Julianto (Ino) 6-1, 6-2; 1-Manisha Malhotra bt Zsuzsanna Babos (Hungary) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Doubles: Ludmilla Rozsivalova (Cze)/Julia Vorobieva (Rus) bt Rushmi Chakravarthy/Sai Jayalakshmy 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; Shruti Dhawan/Yael Gliztenshtein (Isr) bt Preeti Rao/Iciri Rai 6-2, 6-2; Orawan Lamangthang (Thn)/Geeta Manohar w/o Isha Lakhani/Megha Vakharia; Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb)/Chin-Bee Khoo (Mal) bt D. Julianto (Ino)Po-Kuen Lam (Hkg) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

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