Ogorodov in final

Ogorodov had returned from the Asian Games minus the Bangkok syndrome which had plagued the Indians here. He didn’t seem fagged out, losing just six games in his first three matches. He seemed to have Masuda’s number too. But then the myth about the unstoppable Ogorodov broke.Masuda mixed his shots –letting them float all over the court. The heady concoction of varying pace, flight and length had Ogorodov perplexed. Masuda took the second set 6-3.

By now Ogorodov was losing patience and also temper. That meant more errors and a broken racquet. After the match he said the wrong tension on the strings and the heavy balls frustrated him. “With the match slipping, I went for my strokes and that worked,” said Ogorodov of his comeback. As the gamble paid off he came out of the hole to take the decider at 7-5.

The final will be shown live on Doordarshan. The doubles final starts at 12.00 noon while the singles will be telecast at 2.45 p.m.

RESULTS

Singles (semi-final): E Ran bt A Dupuis 6-4 6-0; O Ogorodov bt K Masuda 6-2 3-6 7-5.

Doubles (semi-final): N Okun & N Welgreen bt I Ljubicic & G Motomura 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-5).