Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Chennai, December 30: Uppal rebounded from a first set loss to beat compatriot Vijay Kannan 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4.
Arvind Parmar made short work of Rishi Sridhar 6-2, 6-4.
Kamalakannan was his usual self, giving his best without getting intimidated by a stronger player. However, Petr Kralert, who hails from Prague, carried too many guns for Kannan. The Czech won 6-3, 6-2.
Oleg Ogorodov of Uzbekistan, who is familiar with Indian conditions, pulled off a minor flutter, knocking out sixth-seeded German Oliver Gross 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Cyril Saulnier (France), the top seed survived some anxious moments before getting past Vik Robin (Czech Republic) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Last time many Indians took part in the qualifying round. This time around lot of Europeans and players from other countries decided to take part, so only five Indians could get a chance.
Promising Indian junior Sunil Kumar, who got a wild card and lost in the first round last year, could not make it to the qualifying draw this time.
Results (Round1): Cyril Saulnier (Fra) bt Vik Robin (Cze) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Arvind Parmar (GBR) bt Rishi Sridhar (Ind) 6-2, 6-4; Barry Cowan (GBR) bt Harsh Mankad (Ind) 6-4, 7-6 (3); Vadim Kutsenko (Uzb) bt Jonathan Erlich (Isr) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5); Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Ota Fukarek (Cze) 7-6 (5), 2-2 (0-40) (conceded); Yuri Schukin bt De Voest Rik (SA) 6-4, 6-0; Petr Kralert (Cze) bt Kamalakannan (Ind) 6-3, 6-2; Laurence Tieleman (Ita) bt Aisam Qureshi (Pak) 6-2, 7-6 (5); Kristian Pless (Den) bt Johan Landsberg (Swe) 6-3, 6-3; Eyal Ran (Isr) bt Sergei Krotiouk (Rus) 6-2, 7-5; Oleg Ogorodov (Uzb) bt Oliver Gross (Ger) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Vishal Uppal (Ind) bt Vijay Kannan (Ind) 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4.
