India squeak past Chinese Taipei

In more ways than one, things had come a full circle. The same winter evening, the same showcourt, the same back-to-the-wall drama; but, unlike Indonesian Andrian Raturandang, Ju could not pull it off against Bhupathi. But then, Bhupathi’s awkward forehand didn’t look very different, either.Ju saw that early on and nailed Bhupathi right there. But the Indian unleashed an inspired bout of serving to hit back from 0-4 to 4-4 before Ju held for 5-4.

But that was as far as he could go. Bhupathi hung on and reeled off three games in a row to pocket the first set 7-5 and hurried through with the second 6-2, flashing a happy smile at Ms Verma on the way out.

As for Srinath, he had almost everything going for him — an opponent who gave him the sort of rhythm he relishes and a backhand that was behaving well. But, for a man who’s spent the last two years on the ultimate clay court destination — Europe — Srinath was just not patient enough.

Lin Bing Chao wasn’t hitting too many winners, but the Indian just gave away far too many free points. For someone who’s ranked just a little below Bhupathi, two upset losses — one against Pakistan and another against Taipei — is something Srinath needs to take a closer look at before getting on the grind again.

RESULTS

Semi-Finals: India btChinese Taipei 2-1

(Prahlad Srinath lost to Lin Bing Chao 4-6, 3-6; Mahesh Bhupathi bt Chen Wei Ju 7-5, 6-2; Mahesh Bhupathi/Syed Fazaluddin bt Lin Bing Chao/ Chen Chih Jung 6-4, 7-5).