Indian players hope to make amends

After all, the first leg at Mumbai almost witnessed such a happening and although the Indian entrants achieved little to shout about in the megapolis, they intend in putting their best foot forward here in Pune after learning from their mistakes.

Key Indian players on whom local tennis buffs will be keeping a close watch on will once again be the top seed Prahlad Srinath ATP 312, No 2 Syed Fazaluddin 418 and Pune8217;s own 8212; the Kirtane cousins, Sandeep No 8 and Nitin, apart from the new National hard court champion Sunil Kumar who now knocks on international doors.

Whetting the appetite is the foreign flavour in first-leg qualifier Thomas Messmer Germany, 949 who reached the final and lucky loser Kunj Majmudar USA, 1232 who reached the semifinals. However, Radim Zitko, the winner of first leg, poses a real threat.

The singles draw presents Indians another chance. Srinath and Sayed Fazaluddin, disappointing last week after citing injury lay-offs and lack of match-practise, get an easy first round. Srinath plays qualifier Shivshankar Kamburgimati while Fazal facing Vijendra Laad on Tuesday. The first day8217;s action, however, features two wild card entries. Sixteen-year-old Sunil Kumar takes on Nitin Kirtane while Manoj Mahadevan will draw upon all his experience against No 5 Tom Chicoine USA.
Results Final qualifying round
Zaman Sanzarus Ind bt Sangram Chaphekar Ind 6-2, 6-2; Shivshankar Kanburgimati Ind bt Tushaar Gautam Ind 6-3, 7-6 5; Andrei Youzhny Rus bt Rishi Sridhar Ind 6-4, 6-3; Anand Radhakrishna Ind bt Chandrashekhar Mohanty Ind 6-4, 6-3; Kunj Mujmudar USA bt Abhishek Tamhane Ind 6-2, 6-0; Pawel Kozak Aut bt Vinay Karia Ind 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Van Wyk Coenie Rsa bt Kedar Shah Ind 6-0, 7-6 2; Kemper-Bergm Matthis Swe bt Christian Jordan USA 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.