Mahesh8217;s loss unexpected

November 7: It was perhaps the most difficult day for us. Mahesh's loss came as a bolt from the blue. I was expecting an easy match for him...

November 7: It was perhaps the most difficult day for us. Mahesh8217;s loss came as a bolt from the blue. I was expecting an easy match for him since Andrian Raturandang didn8217;t have anything much to hurt Hesh8217;. But as the match wore on, Andrian grew in confidence, and I felt Mahesh suddenly became very tentative. He didn8217;t serve as well as he could have and the Indonesian kept the ball in play to let Mahesh make most of the mistakes.

Even after he got a break in the final set, Mahesh was unable to close out the match. I found that surprising because he is not the one to let go of such opportunities. I was impressed with the way Andrian kept on fighting and used his foreheand groundstrokes to the maximum. He played some smart shots and even when Mahesh was getting to the net, Andrian made him hit a lot of low volleys. I think every player has bad days and Mahesh went through one today. The sooner he gets over the match, the better, as tomorrow is another day altogether.

Andrian managed to return Mahesh8217;s serve well and then pinned him to the baseline with deep groundstrokes. There were times when Andrian controlled the rhythm of the match and I felt that is where Mahesh8217;s downfall started. In the days when you serve is not working well, you should get a lot of first serves in and get your rhythm back and once that happens you can then go back to hitting big serves.

I felt we underestimated their No 1 player and he played well above his capabilities which goes to show that in team events like these rankings are thrown out of the window. Also, when you play a player who has nothing to lose and who is just going for every shot and making it, one must be a little more patient and not panic or try to hit a winner every second of third ball. You must still try and work the point and use your strength against his weakness as much as you can, especially on the big points.Sandeep held fort by winning the first singles. He once again proved his worth by playing solid tennis and, at times, came up with some spectacular shots. I am happy with his contribution to the team this week and on hindsight Sandeep turned out to be The Man today.

Mahesh showed some true grit by recovering from his singles fairly quickly and played quality tennis in the doubles. We were prepared to play doubles if it got to that. Even though Mahesh played a long singles match, he regrouped quickly to win the doubles rather comfortably and thus the tie.Our main priority is to recover physically for tomorrow8217;s match and make sure we do the right things to produce some top quality tennis in the final. Finals are always a special occasion and I thrive on them so I am looking forward to my singles tomorrow.

The South Koreans are our toughest opponents this week and even though their number one player is out with a back injury, they have not lost a match so far. It is going to be a very interesting encounter and we will have to play to our full potential to take the Sahara Cup.