The Hindu : Clean sweep for India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 01, 2003

Sport

Sport - Afro-Asian Games

Clean sweep for India

By Abhijit Sen Gupta

Vijay Kannan essays a forehand return against Philippines' Jonny Arcilla in Hyderabad on Friday. Vijay won in straight sets. — Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

Hyderabad Oct. 31. India swept all seven golds with Sania Mirza picking up four individual golds in the tennis championships of the Afro-Asian Games here today. India won the men's and women's team titles, the singles, the doubles and also the mixed doubles titles as the tournament concluded today.

Vijay Kannan put up a near perfect display to lift the men's singles title. When he defeated Johnny Arcilla of Phillipines 6-1, 6-1 in what was one of the most one-sided matches in this tournament.

In the women's doubles final Sania Mirza and Rushmi Chakravarthy gave India the gold by defeating Stefanie Rosa Maya and Septi Mende of Indonesia 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 after a 90-minute battle.

For Rushmi this was the second gold of the Games since she had also won gold as member of the Indian women's squad.

While the younger Sania got points with her strong serve and attacking style of play the more experienced Rushmi showed good anticipation and ball control to overcome their opponents. In the mixed doubles final, Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi beat Rushmi Chakravarthy and Vishal Uppal 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. Mahesh and Sania gave a good display of teamwork to overcome their opponents.

The pull out by the top seed Prakash Amritraj perhaps made it easy for second-seeded Vijay to take the gold in the men's singles here. The way he demolished Johnny Arcilla was remarkable. The Indian player got it all right. Even when he came to the net his anticipation was amazingly precise. It was as if Vijay had been playing Arcilla all his life and knew exactly what the Philippines player would do at each turn. Vijay's shots were accurate, his coverage of the court was commendably quick and when it came to backhand crosscourt returns the angle and placements were almost perfect, giving Arcilla no chance of reaching the ball.

Arcilla on the other hand was a trifle hasty especially in the first set where his serve was broken in the fourth and sixth games. He also seemed a trifle nervous and error prone. Throughout the course of this short and decisive battle, Arcilla could not seem to find the right depth. He either hit over the opponent's baseline or slammed the ball into the net.

By the second set Arcilla's body language showed that he was a beaten man. At times he looked totally demoralised by his own inability to lift his game to the level required and by his opponent's totally professional performance. In the second set Arcilla was broken in the first and third games but managed to hold his serve in the fifth game to take the only game of the set. Otherwise it was Vijay Kannan all the way.

The results (all finals):

Men's singles: Vijay Kannan (Ind) bt Johnny Arcilla (Phi) 6-1, 6-1.

Women doubles: Rushmi Chakravarthy and Sania Mirza (Ind) bt Stefanie Rosa Maya and Septi Mende (Ina) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.

Mixed doubles: Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) bt Rushmi Chakravarthy and Vishal Uppal (Ind) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3.

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