Ramaswami makes quarter-finals

MUMBAI, May 14: Pune-based wild card entry Ajay Ramaswami underlined his potential in the men's singles, fighting bravely to edge out quali...

MUMBAI, May 14: Pune-based wild card entry Ajay Ramaswami underlined his potential in the men’s singles, fighting bravely to edge out qualifier Y Sandeep in the pre-quarterfinals of the Chakan Oil Mills-sponsored Rs 2.5 lakhs Western India tennis tournament for the Rocket Trophy at Deccan Gymkhana courts, here today.

Ramaswami won 7-6 (9-7), 6-0 while another Pune player and unseeded Amod Wakalkar played his heart out on the adjacent court to dispose off the eighth seed C V Anand 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 to make the last eight as well.

In the women’s singles section (Dr Aqua Trophy), apart from sixth seed Aparna Srinivasan and eight seed Jutika Choksi (both Maharashtra), all the other six seeded players easily made the quarter-final round. Aparna and Jutika survived a scare before downing their unseeded opponents and statemates, Puja Deshmukh 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) and Hrushida Kamthe 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 respectively.

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A closely contested first set saw Sandeep fight back from 1-4 down to level at 4-4. At 5-5 Ramaswami dropped a game before fighting back to break Sandeep in the 12th game.

In the tie-breaker Ajay, who was down 0-4 changed his game plan. He switched from playing long rallies to rush the net. It enabled him clinch the tie-breaker 9-7. The Nandan Bal Academy boy wrapped the match up with a runaway 6-0 win in the second set.

Srinath, 23, who is playing almost after three years, defeated qualifier B Chowdhary of Assam in an indetical sets of 6-2, 6-2.

Results

Men’s singles (Pre-quarterfinals): Vasudeva Reddy (AP) bt Umeng Chhada (Guj) 6-1, 6-0; S K Shivshankar (Kar) bt D R Jayadeva (Kar) 6-1, 7-5; Nitin Kirtane (Mah) bt R G Arvind (Kar) 6-1, 6-3; Sailesh Dhoble (Mah) bt Rohan Wadhera (Mah) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; K V Ganesh (TN) bt Rajesh Vora (Punjab) 6-2, 6-2; P Srinath (Kar) bt B Chowdhary (Asm) 6-2, 6-2; Amod Wakalkar (Mah) bt C V Anand 3-6, 6-1, 6-3; Ajay Ramaswami (Mah) bt Y Sandeep 7-5 (9-7), 6-0.

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Women’s singles (Pre-quarter final): Jutika Choksi (Mah) bt Hrushida Kamthe 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; 2-Arati Ponnappa (TN) bt M Padma Preetham (TN) 6-0, 6-0; Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN) bt Sumitra Rao (TN) 6-2, 6-1; K Janaki (Mah) bt K Subhasini (TN) 6-1, 6-2; 6. Aparna Srinivasan (Mah) bt Puja Deshmukh (Mah) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5); 3. V Archana (Kar) bt S Anitha (TN) 6-1, 6-2; Joy Rodriques (Mah) bt Subha Srinivasan (TN) 6-2, 6-1; V Arthi (Kar) bt Shyla Naidu (Mah) 6-0, 6-1.

Women’s doubles (quarterfinals): Arati Ponnappa/Rushmi Chakravarthi bt A Shruti/A Mhatre 6-0, 6-0; K Janaki/N Deviah bt Sai Rajlaxmi/J Jayaraman 6-2, 6-0.