Japan hopes to turn the tide of history

By Nirmal Shekar

TOKYO, APRIL 5. From the stately 29th floor banquet room of the Le Meridien Grand Pacific hotel here, the view of Tokyo bay is breathtakingly beautiful. Impressive sky-scrapers stand majestically in the background as huge freighters steam up and down the placid waters even as peak hour traffic roars along several tiers of state-of- the-art bridges.

It is as strikingly wonderful a picture as you might get to see anywhere in the world of a great modern city framed in the defining bustle and beauty of its relentless everyday routine. The magnificent microcosm of modern urban life is at once inspiring and intimidating.

Inside the banquet hall on Thursday, the picture that was sought to be painted of Japanese men's tennis after the draw ceremony for the Japan-India Asia-Oceania Group I second round Davis Cup tie - to be played at the Ariake Tennis Park from April 6 to 8 - was nowhere as impressive and hardly as inspiring.

At a time when Japanese sportslovers' attention is focussed on baseball and football rather than tennis, when television cannot stop talking about Tsuyoshi Shinjo, a Japanese player who has turned out for the legendary New York Mets in National League baseball in the United States, not too many are excited about Japan's clash against India in a fight for Asian supremacy in men's tennis. Yet, no matter the ambivalent attitude of the Japanese sports press and the country's sports fans towards this crucial tie, the fact remains that the host nation has its best chance in eight decades to halt one of the longest running one-on-one victory streaks in team sports anywhere in the world.

Japan's last success against India in Davis Cup had come in London in May, 1930 when Harada and Ota were far too good for Madan Mohan and Charanjiva. Those names might have hardly meant anything at all to Takao Suzuki and Leander Paes on Thursday as His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino presided over the draw at the Le Meridien Grand Pacific.

Yet, that tie has its place in history because Japan has played India 15 times since then and lost every single time. For teams that have not played each other in 11 years, such statistics may not be truly relevant but what is significant is that the team spearheaded by Suzuki has the best chance to turn the tide of history.

Surprising move

The Japanese non-playing captain Jun Kamiwazumi may have surprised Ramesh Krishnan's visiting team a little bit on Thursday as he named Yaoki Ishii, the home team's No. 3, as the second singles player, leaving out the popular Goichi Motomura.

It was Ishii's name that Prince Akishino pulled out of the bowl held out by the referee Wayne McKewen of Australia and he will play Leander Paes in Friday's opening singles with Takao Suzuki taking on Mahesh Bhupathi in the following match. Ramesh was a touch surprised but he believes that his Japanese counterpart's move may not be critical to the outcome of the tie.

``We have enough strength and experience to take them on in these conditions,'' said Ramesh. ``But I am not really looking at the record books. We hope to continue the winning tradition but there is no guarantee we will. We can only put in our best effort.''

Suzuki, a natural serve and volleyer who goes in even on his second serve, is playing some of the best tennis of his career and in front of a home crowd in familiar conditions, both he and the other Japanese would make for formidable opposition.

``There is no question there. We have our work cut out. They compete very hard and they are a tough team,'' said Paes. ``But I am ready. I have got a little bit more experience than the last time I played against Japan,'' said the India No. 1, who made his Cup debut against Japan as a 16-year-old in Chandigarh in 1990.

It is indeed a little strange that two of the finest tennis playing nations in Asia have not met in 11 years. But the fact is, India had the good fortune to have played in the World Group for a good part of the 1990s and Japan has mostly been labouring in the zonal level.

Japanese men's tennis, of course, is a poor cousin to the women's game in a nation which produces several middle - and sometimes even top rung - women stars. The men, for their part, are still governed by old-fashioned attitudes, looking down upon tennis as a sissy sport, not quite as manly enough as sumo wrestling or football or even baseball. On Friday, Suzuki, for one, will confront such anachronistic attitudes with his kamikaze fighter approach to tennis. And Bhupathi himself is ready for the challenge.

Bhupathi became a household name in Japan a few years ago when he won the French Open mixed doubles title with Rika Hiraki and to this day the Japanese tennis press keenly follows his fortunes at the Grand Slam tournaments.

But, the problem is, for a variety of reasons, Bhupathi has become something of a specialist doubles player and he has not played too many singles matches in the last two years. His last singles match in Davis Cup was against South Korea at Seogwipo City in February, 1999.

``I feel good physically. We had to take this chance. We didn't want to burden Leander with having to win three matches,'' said Bhupathi. ``The draw has worked out well for us. Hopefully, I will be going in 1-0 up and I can go out there and swing my racquet.''

It might take more than swinging the racquet to tame Suzuki but Bhupathi has the big game - the serve and the return - to do damage to a net-rushing Suzuki's confidence and it is indeed going to be an exciting opening day at Ariake Park.

The Japanese non-playing captain Kamiwazumi is quite aware of the expectations in a home tie and playing Ishii for Motomura is a calculated gamble. The Indians are familiar with Motomura's game from Challenger events in India but Ishii is something of a mystery man.

But, then, Mr. Paes, in the company of Ramesh Krishnan first and then Mahesh Bhupathi, has solved quite a few mysteries in faraway lands. And he appears keen and eager to solve the latest puzzle.

Telecast on DD Sports

NEW DELHI, APRIL 5. DD Sports will telecast `deferred live' the India-Japan Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I second round match to be played in Tokyo from April 6 to 8. Doordarshan has also won exclusive telecast rights to beam deferred live Davis Cup World Group matches from the quarterfinal round onwards.

Telecast of the singles tie between India and Japan will start at 5 p.m. on April 6 and will show the last one-and-a- half hours of play. Full recording of the doubles match will be shown on the same day at 1 p.m. on April 7.

lThe schedule:

April 6: India vs Japan (singles) 5 p.m.; Netherlands vs Germany (singles) 8 a.m. April 7: India vs Japan (doubles) 6 p.m.; Netherlands vs Germany (doubles) 9 p.m. April 8: India vs Japan (reverse singles) 6 p.m.; Netherlands vs Germany (reverse singles) 11 p.m. - PTI

The draw

Friday, April 6: Opening singles: 7.30 a.m. start: Leander Paes v Yaoko Ishii; Mahesh Bhupathi v Takao Suzuki.

Saturday, April 7: Doubles: 11.30 a.m.: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi v Takao Suzuki and Thomas Shimada.

Sunday, April 8: Reverse singles: 7.30 a.m. start: Leander Paes v Takao Suzuki; Mahesh Bhupathi v Yaoki Ishii.

Note: All times IST, Tokyo is 3hrs 30min ahead of IST.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Sania, Prakash in semifinals
Next     : Southern Railway shortcircuits KSEB