Udomchoke, Mankad set up summit clash

“I am not keeping well. The whole of yesterday I was throwing up. And I had just an hour’s sleep last night. I am feeling very, very sick,” the Swede said struggling to hide his disappointment.

Up against a physically unfit Thornadtsson, Mankad ran up a 4-1 lead in the first set, riding on a break in the second game. The gallant Swede gave his best in the seventh game, picking up the lines with some fluent strokes off either hands. He put Mankad under pressure and broke back when the Indian cracked a backhand into the net.

In the ninth game, Thornadtsson ran Mankad close, taking him to deuce with a rasping forehand down the line before the Indian held serve on a poor return from the Swede.

Here ended Thornadtsson’s will to fight. Serving in the tenth game, he wistfully hit a forehand into the net to set Mankad up for a set point. The Indian won the set when Thornadtsson swatted a backhand long despite having full view of the court.

Mankad, who himself has not been keeping too well following an asthmatic attack, is pretty confident of his chances against Udomchoke in the final on Saturday. “I am feeling a lot better now. And the fact that Udomchoke isn’t hundred percent fit makes my chances bright.”

“But then the final will be tough. Udomchoke is a player who doesn’t give many free points,” said Mankad, who had beaten the Thai in the Masters in Kannur in ’98.

Udomchoke turned on the heat right away in the first game when he held Ramaswamy to three deuces. He did better in the third, working his shots to fine angles and forcing Ramaswamy into egregious errors. The Thai went up by a break when Ramaswamy put an easy forehand volley out of bounds.

Ajay dropped serve again in the seventh after fluffing two forehands in succession, giving Udomchoke a 5-2 lead. The Thai, then, momentarily wobbled in the next game as Ramaswamy drilled a forehand down-the-line winner to earn a break.

The break in serve hardly mattered as Ramaswamy, serving 3-5 down, lapsed into a string of errors — beginning with a wide forehand and ending with a long backhand — to drop serve and the set.

A break in the first game of the second set for Ramaswamy was like a false alarm as Udomchoke roared back in the fourth, breaking his rival on a stinging forehand crosscourt. The Thai broke Ramaswamy again in the eighth after five dueces and a netted forehand and then wrapped up the set with an ace.

Results (all semis)

Men’s singles:1-Danai Udomchoke (Thai) bt Ajay Ramaswamy (India) 6-3 6-3; 4-Harsh Mankad (Ind) bt 2-Per Thornadtsson (Swe) 6-4 1-0 (Thornadtsson conceded the match).

Men’s doubles: Chadha (Ind) & Kunj Majmudar (US) bt Mustafa Ghouse & Vishal Uppal (Ind) 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3.