Shivshankar blazes but Udomchoke douses

By Kalyan Ashok

BANGALORE, JUNE 13. The second day's play in the McDowells ITF Satellite (second leg) tennis championship began four hours behind schedule today due to poor court conditions at the KSLTA Stadium, following the overnight rains.

But the local lad, Shivshankar Kanbargimath made the wait worth it as he battled bravely against the top-seed, Danai Udomchoke of Thailand. The 19-year-old Thai Davis Cupper, Udomchoke, after quite a few hiccups had the last chuckle and won 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.

Udomchoke felt that he wasn't fully fit yet as a thigh cramp, sustained during the Mumbai leg, troubled him a bit. But that could not take away the credit from Shivshankar's fighting display. He made his father and coach, Sashikanth Kanbargimath, the Tournament Director of the Bangalore leg, proud as he played his heart out. But Udomchoke showed greater maturity and temperament to carry the day.

Udomchoke, showed enough chinks in his armour today. True, his forehand carried lot of punch, but backhand was suspect and his attempt to stay back and dictate the course, almost boomeranged on him as Shivshankar showed a great flair for attack with his double-handed backhand.

Shivshankar, who on his day can rip the opposition apart solely because he is a fearless strokemaker, also kept a nippy pace and had his rival on the defensive. But it is on crucial points that he faltered.

A break in the fifth game of the first set saw Shivshankar grab a 3-2 lead in the first set, but he failed to capitalise on it as he dropped his serve in the next game. Udomchoke seized control with his solid groundstrokes and broke again in the eighth game (5-3) and closed the set at 6-3.

Shivshankar held his ground tenaciously against the persistent Thai, who tried to pin him back in the second set. In fact, Shivshankar had a set point in the ninth game (5-4), before Udomchoke saved the game and tied at 5-all and pushed the set to a tie-breaker. Shivshankar, egged on by a sparse local crowd, rose to great heights in the tie-breaker as he belted a string of winners to race to a 4-0 lead. Udomchoke, in back to the wall effort, squared the score later at 5-all, Shivshankar then hammered down his patent double-handed cross court winner for a 6-5 lead and with Udomchoke hitting the next one over the sidelines, the youngman exulted in pure joy.

But the happiness did not last long. Udomhchoke stepped up the pace and played his forehand to near perfection to unsettle Shivshankar. The latter, also missed quite a few openings at this stage and began conceding negative points. The Thai struck in the fifth game, cracking Shivshankar, who netted an ambitious drop volley on the deciding point. That single break was enough for Udomchoke, who just played cool and doused the fire of his rival with a sensible game to take the set and match (6-3).

``I did not really move that well though I think the muscle pull is little okay now. That guy was pretty good with the double- handed stuff.'' said Udomchoke.

Sandeep's experience to the fore

Sandeep Kirtane, the seasoned pro and the first leg winner, showed Manoj Mahadevan what experience is all about as he rallied to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory in another first- round encounter. The match was played at the nearby Century Club courts, as the main courts were not ready at KSLTA.

The clash between the two consistent baseliners produced sparks and the long-limbed Manoj had Sandeep on the mat with good volleys and groundstrokes. A decisive break in the eighth game saw Manoj pick the first at 6-3.

Sandeep Kirtane roared back in the second set. He moved up and began hitting the ball with lot more assurance and his drop volleys had Manoj in trouble and as Sandeep piled on the pressure, an error-prone Manoj managed to take just three games in the next 35 minutes as he went down tamely.

``It was pretty good in the first set, but I ended up giving him too many free points later'' said a disappointed Manoj Mahadevan.

Harsh Mankad's positive and aggressive approach saw him roll past the qualifier John Rom of the USA at 6-3, 6-2. In the first set, Mankad was up 3-0 with breaks in the first and third games, before dropping the serve in the sixth. But he quickly set right the lapse, sealing the set quickly at 6-3. In the second, Mankad was down 0-2 after dropping the serve in the second game with a double fault. He then hit back with a double break in the fourth and sixth to shut the match.

In the other matches, the third-seed Vishal Uppal, after a tentative start, defeated S. Zaman 7-5, 6-3, while the fifth-seed

Vinod Sridhar had the measure of the Russian Alexandre Sikanov 7- 6 (7-3), 6-1. Qualifier Ajay Ramaswamy sprang a surprise on the fancied Vikrant Chadha at 6-4, 6-2. The wild card Rishi Sridhar, who caused a ripple at Mumbai beating Vishal Uppal, was knocked out by the qualifier Alex Gavrilov of Russia at 6-4, 6-0.

Saurav Panja disposed of qualifier Kamala Kannan 6-4, 6-4, while Stalbark of Sweden beat another qualifier Kedar Tembe at 6-3, 5- 7, 6-3. Marian Leyesek of Slovakia also moved up with a swift 6- 3, 6-2 win over Kunj Majumdar, the only seeded casualty.

An indisposed Akshay Vishal Rao conceded to the Thai qualifier Pracharpol. Akshay had won the first set 6-4 and the second was tied at 4-all before Akshay called it quits.

The results (first round) seedings in prefix:

Singles: 1-Danai Udomchoke (Thai) bt Shivshankar Kanbargimath (Ind) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; Alok Bhide (Ind) bt Kedar Shah (Ind) 6-4, 6-2; 3-Vishal Uppal bt Sanzaruz Zaman (Ind) 7-5, 6-3; Alex Gavrilov (Rus) bt Rishi Sridhar (Ind) 6-4, 6-0; Ajay Ramaswamy (Ind) bt Vikrant Chadha (Ind) 6-4, 6-2; 6-Sandeep Kirtane (Ind) bt Manoj Mahadevan (Ind) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; 4-Harsh Mankad (Ind) bt John Rom (USA) 6-3, 6-2; Saurav Panja (Ind) bt Kamala kannan (Ind) 6-4, 6-4; P. Stalbark (Swe) bt K. Tembe (Ind) 6-3, 5-7, 6- 3; Marian Leysek (Svk) bt 8-Kunj Majumdar (USA) 6-3, 6-2; Pracharpol Khamsamarn (Thai) bt Akshay Vishal Rao (Ind) 4-6, 4-4 (conceded); Vinod Sridhar (Ind) bt Alexandre (Rus) 7-6 (7-3), 6- 1.

Doubles: Amol Wakalkar & Manoj Mahadevan (Ind) bt Vinod Sridhar & P. Ravishankar (Ind) 7-5, 6-3; Mustafa Ghouse & Vishal Uppal (Ind) bt Vijendra Laad & Kedar Shah (Ind) 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2.

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