HINDUSTAN TIMES  - Thursday, Oct 24, 2002 - HT Correspondent

Tennis results can be misleading, especially if the line 'conceded' appears at the end of it. While top-seed Sunil Kumar stuttered, spluttered and then surrendered, citing chest infection as a reason, opponent Kamala Kannan deserved all the praise in the DSCL Open National Championship on Wednesday.

Earlier, Parantap Chaturvedi did his bit to keep the Delhi flag flying, outlasting under-18 top-seed Somdev Devvarman to make it a very interesting day for the motley crowd at the DLTA complex.

When there are two Kannans playing in the same tournament, the oft-asked question is whether the two are brothers. Just when Kamala Kannan was showing his prowess against Sunil, defending champion Vijay Kannan was cruising past Rohan Gajjar on the adjacent court, even though it took three sets.

Kamala Kannan has always had the game to excel on hard courts, especially when he is getting to hit the ball on the rise. His groundstrokes have always carried punch, and it was just a matter of whether he could control it. On Wednesday, the dark Chennai lad stepped on court oozing with confidence.

"I knew I could beat Sunil," Kamala said later. Having lost in the quarter-finals to Rohan Bopanna last year, Kamala was keen to do well. It has been a hard grind for him, coming through the five rounds of qualifiers and then facing Sunil Kumar.

Sunil just was not able to play his usual game and did not offer his illness as a reason for defeat after the match. "Kamala played quite well, I have no excuses," he said. In the same breath Sunil added he was ready to fight it out over the next three weeks when the ITF Futures are held.

Meanwhile, Vijay Kannan showed remarkable confidence as he handled Gajjar with elan and poise. The Chennai man has added a few new dimensions to his game and it is the willingness to come in and volley which makes him look so different now. All in all, it was a commanding show from the defending champion.

Second-seed Mustafa Ghouse of Mumbai had to dig deep into his reserves. Up against the wily Sandeep Kirtane, Mustafa was made to work all the time. "It is tough playing someone like Sandeep.

"He is not only very experienced but also returns so well I had to do a lot," said Mustafa. He runs into Ajay Ramaswamy next, in what promises to be a good match.

Results (pre-quarter finals):

Men: Kamala Kannan b Sunil Kumar 5-7, 7-6 7/5), 1-0 (conceded); Somdev Devvarman b Saurav Panja 6-2, 6-3; Vijay Kannan b Rohan Gajjar 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Vinod Sridhar b Amanjot Singh 6-3, 6-1; Ajay Ramaswamy b Vasudeva Reddy 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Mustafa Ghouse b Sandeep Kirtane 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (8/6); Kedar Tembe b Parantap Chaturvedi 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/1); Nitin Kirtane b Shantanu Dhaka 6-1, 6-0. Boys under-18: Parantap Charturvedi b Somdev Devvarman 6-1, 2-6, 6-4; Rupesh Roy b J Jayanth 6-2, 6-3; Tushar Liberhan b Samarth Goutham 6-4, 6-3; Arun Prakash b Siddharth Patil 6-0, 6-1; Wrik Ganguly b Dhruv Kumar 6-1, 3-6, 6-3; Amanjot Singh b Shantanu Dhaka 6-1, 6-3; Divij Sharan b G Arjun 6-2, 6-4; Chatwinder Singh b VM Ranjit 6-2, 6-3.

Women: Sheetal Goutham b Isha Chopra 6-3, 6-4; Shruti Dhawan b Punam Reddy 6-1, 6-2; Sonal Phadke b Lata Asudani 6-2, 6-3; Lisa Pereira b Sonia Shelar 6-3, 6-2; Geeta Manohar b T Yamini 6-1, 7-5; Ankita Bhambri b Sasha Abraham 4-6, 6-2, 6-2; Isha Lakhani b Archana Venkataraman 6-4, 6-2; Radhika Tulpule b Redhina Parekh 6-2, 6-0. Girls: Isha Lakhani b Parul Goswami 6-2, 6-0; Iciri Rai b Preeti Rao 6-4, 7-5; Lata Asudani b Alice Joy 6-4, 6-1; Priyanka Parekh b Priya 6-1, 6-2; Sasha Abraham b Jahan Afreen 6-3, 6-1; M Kamini b Sandra Sashidharan 7-6 (11/9), 6-3; M Ranganathan b Shweta Devrajan 6-4, 6-2; Poonam Reddy b Isha Toor 6-1, 6-0.