Sai takes on Thai for title

Montika, who made it to the finals for the first time in this tournament, after her countrywoman, No 4 Orawan Wangkamalasai conceded to her in the quarters yesterday, cut short the run ofunseeded Indian girl Janaki Krishnamoorthy 7-5, 6-3 in another semi-final.

The one-hour-20 minute show at the Deccan Gymkhana8217;s centre court saw Rushmi having a tough time with her first serve. 8220;She was not hitting her serve as she used to,8221; said Sai. And on record, she had a total of 20 first serve faults, which forced her to throw the second a little easier, much to the relief to Sai.

Rushmi started the match, committing five first serve faults and a double fault to trail 0-1. But the 58242; 9quot; tall Chennai based first year M.Com student, broke back to level it at 1-1, after Sai had a double fault. However, Sai immediately took control of the situation, breaking the fifth seed Rushmi in the third, fifth and seventh to win 6-2, before herself being unable to hold the serve for once in the sixth.

The second set too had a similar close start, wherein both the players exchanged breaks in the first two games. Thereafter, Rushmi dropped serve in the fifth and ninth, but staged a remarkable comeback to levelit at 5-5. In the 11th, just when it looked as if Rushmi would sweep away the set, being 30-0 up, her error-prone serves let her down. She lost the game on deuce and then Sai, serving for the match-point, held her serve comfortably.

Sai, who till now has lost on 12 occasions to Rushmi and has won only six times said, 8220;I am pretty satisfied with this win. In the recent past, I have been successful in overcoming the mental block that I cannot win over her. It has disturbed me many-a-times. Now, in the last four matches that we have played, I have lost only once in the Ahmedabad leg final.8221; Incidentally, Sai has won against the same opponent every time in the straight sets. 8220;All these times I have beaten her in straight sets,8221; she declared proudly.

JANAKI LETS MONTIKA OFF THE HOOK: The unseeded Indian, Janaki Krishnamoorthy, let seventh seed Montika Anuchan off the hook, after twice making a praiseworthy comeback in the match. Montika was lucky enough to win this encounter 7-5, 6-3, despitehaving as many as 16 double faults, out of which four came while serving for the set point in the 12th game.

Janaki, basically a slow starter, staged a remarkable comeback after being down 1-4 to level at 5-5. However, when it was needed the most, the former National hardcourt champion played a poor game. She failed to hold serve in the 11th and then wasted the initiative of taking the set into tie-breaker, when the Thai girl served four double faults in the 12th.

In the second set again, Janaki bounced back from being 1-4 down, coming as close as 3-4. That was the last game the Mumbai girl could win, as the well placed volleys of the hard hitting Montika left her clueless.

Meanwhile, the top seeded pair of Rushmi Chakravarthi and Sai Jayalakshmi won the doubles final, defeating the second seeded Venkatraman sisters Archana and Aarti 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 10 minutes.

RESULTS Prefix denotes seedings

SINGLES Semi-finals: 3. Sai Jayalakshmi Ind bt 5. RushmiChakravarthi Ind 6-2, 7-5; 7. Montika Anuchan Thai bt Janaki Krishnamoorthy 7-5, 6-3.

DOUBLES Final: 1. Rushmi Chakravarthi-Sai Jayalakshmi Ind bt Archana Venkatraman-Aarti Venkatraman Ind 6-2, 6-4.