Pride of place for Indians

Even as the eight teams gathered for the draw ceremony, the limelight was always on the Indian duo, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi and those on the dais, including the ATF president, did not miss an opportunity to praise them. After the draw, the schedule for the opening day pits India against the Philippines in the first match on centre court. The latter have two of the four members which played Davis Cup two years ago in Delhi.

Joseph Lizardo, the captain-cum-player who could not play the Davis Cup due to an upset tummy then, will be looking forward to make up for that lost chance. Their number two player is Robert Angelo who couldn’t do much during that Davis Cup match, either.

The Indians, meanwhile, are toying with the idea of resting either Paes or Bhupahi so that Sandeep and Nitin can get a feel of the tournament. Most probably it will be Bhupathi who will sit out and Sandeep may take his place.Paes, however, said that they would not take the matches lightly because India would be heavily favoured to win the inaugural tournament.

He felt the country should have more and more of tennis academies so that the youngsters could learn from the vast experience of India’s tennis veterans.

Meanwhile, Bhupathi said that they had confirmed their berth in Hartford before coming here. If they were a borderline case they would have been forced to skip this tournament and play either in Moscow or Stockholm to pick up the necessary points.

He, too, felt India were strongly favoured to win the inaugural edition of the Asia Cup, “unless of course India A beat us,” he said in a lighter vein.

He agreed that his singles plans have taken a back seat after their success in doubles. Soon after Hartford they intend to play the Mumbai Challenger and may be the Ahmedabad one too, so that they can play some singles matches.

CHINA PULL OUT: Earlier on Saturday, China pulled out, citing injuries to their top two players. And, with too little time to contact other countries, the organisers put together a Indian A team Shyam Minotra will be the captain.

Japan have not send a team at all and the Asian Tennis Federation president from Japan Eiichi Kawatei was at pains to explain why his team was not represented here.

Apparently, the Japanese stars are busy with their domestic season called the Emperor and Empress Cup which is the criteria for getting into the Davis Cup team. Not that it would have made much difference but since the ATF is headed by a Japanese it would have made sense to send a team, despite the comparative lack of standard.

Uzbekistan, too, have brought along their share of bad news after their top player Oleg Ogorodov, who beat Paes in the Chennai Challenger last year, pulled out at the last minute. His place has been taken by Timur Khankhodjaev.

The Asia Cup draw

Seeds: 1.India; 2. Korea; 3. Uzbekistan; 4. Indonesia;

Group A: India, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Philippines

Group B: South Korea, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Indian `A’

Format: Two vs two; one vs one; followed by doubles; best of three tie-break sets till the semifinals. In the semis and final, third set will be advantage set.

Prize money: Total US$84,000. Winner: $22,000, Runner-up:$14,000; Third place: $12,000; Fourth place: $10,000, Fifth place: $8,000; Sixth place: $7,000; Seventh place: $6,000; Eighth place: $5,000

Monday’s schedule: Centre Court: India v Philippines 10 am; Court I: Uzbekistan v Thailand 1000 hrs; Court II: Indonesia v Chinese Taipei 1000 hrs; Afternoon session (not before 1345 hrs): Centre Court: South Korea v India `A’