Fighting on empty stomach,Udomchoke pulls through

It's a ploy to let his right shoulder recover slowly before he attempts any of the bigger tournaments

In the year since his return from debilitating shoulder injury,Thai Danai Udomchoke has being limiting the level of tournaments he has been playing. The former World number 77,who was once a regular at the Grand Slams,has been mostly playing the 10,000 Futures with the odd 50,000 Challengers.

It8217;s a ploy to let his right shoulder recover slowly before he attempts any of the bigger tournaments. But if Udomchoke was hoping to get an easy match against Vijay Sundar Prashanth,he was in for a rude,sapping shock. The Tamil Nadu player held his own,taking the first set and pushing the top seeded Udomchoke to the edge of a shock first round exit. The Thai ultimately pulled through 3-6 6-3 7-6 2.

Udomchoke had entered the match after missing his morning meal something he said he shouldn8217;t have done after more than a decade on the professional tour. 8220;There were a couple of other Thai players who had matches and I decided to travel with them. The first of those matches started at 9.00 am,while mine was in the afternoon. So by the time my match started,I was famished.8221;

After losing the first set,Udomchoke said it was mental fortitude that helped in pull through to victory. In the third set he was leading 30-0,serving for the match at 5-3,when the energy levels dipped once more. Observing a visible opening,Prashanth fought back,breaking the top seed8217;s serve to ultimately taking a 6-5 lead,and forcing Udomchoke to serve to stay in the match.

But the Thai,with a lot more experience,dashed Prashanth8217;s hopes with three crucial aces to take the game before winning the tiebreak. Panting as he collapsed into his chair after the match,Udomchoke said: 8220;I was totally drained,I have no more energy left. If you ask me to play another game I probably won8217;t be able to.8221;

Yuki out with injury

Just before he was scheduled to play,fifth seeded Yuki Bhambri pulled out of the ITF Futures with a knee injury. Yuki had aggravated the area while training a day before his match. Although the injury was not serious,doctors had advised him few days of rest to strengthen the muscles around the knee tendon. Yuki,who had earlier pulled out during the final at last week8217;s Chandigarh ITF Futures with cramps,said that the incident was exacerbated by the same injury.

Results Day 2: D Udomchoke bt N Prashanth 3-6 6-3 7-62,An Jae-Sung bt Nebojsa Peric 4-6 7-5 6-3,Vijaykant Malik bt Rishabdev Raman 6-2 6-3,M Fornell- Mestres bt Sunil Sipaeya 6-2 7-5,Kim Young-Jun bt Jeong Suk-Young 7-5 6-3,Junn Mitsuhashi bt Christopher Rungkat 6-1 7-6 5,R Virali Murugesan bt P Sirilethaiwattana 7-5 6-3,Mark Kepler bt Lakshit Sood 6-3 6-2,Lee Hsin-Han bt M Inoyatov 6-3 6-4, Kaza Vinayak Sharma bt Elber Sie 6-4 7-6 7,K Wachiramanowong bt Vivek Shokeen 3-6 7-64 6-4,V Vardhan bt Chandril Sood 6-4 7-60,Julien Dubail bt Patrik Rosenholm 4-6 6-2 6-2,Karan Rastogi bt Akash Wagh 6-4 7-6.