The Hindu : Sport : Parul gets the better of Akshitha

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Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007
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Parul gets the better of Akshitha

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Parul Goswami beat wildcard Akshitha Basavaraju 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the $10,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Monday.

The reigning National Games champion, Parul was defensive at the start and thus provided a flying start for her young opponent who attacked relentlessly to run up a 5-0 lead.

However, Akshitha revealed her nervous state of mind as she dropped the next three games before sealing the set.

Parul was quite determined in the second set and worked harder to earn her points, even as her opponent tended to err in her anxiety to finish the points quickly.

Banking on experience

Into the decider, Akshitha took a commanding 3-0 lead with two breaks, but it was Parul who had the last laugh as she relied on her experience to sail out of trouble.

Once Akshitha missed three game points to go up 4-2, the fate of the match was known, though the Bangalore girl made a last ditch attempt by breaking Parul in the seventh game.

To her credit, Parul handled the end game like a champion, even as Akshitha cracked under self-inflicted pressure.

Another wildcard, National junior champion Prerana Bhambri gave a striking presentation of her stroking ability, but lacked the understanding of the game as she lost the decider rather tamely to Parija Maloo.

Goloborodko beaten

Qualifier Kyung-Yee Chae of Korea, a semifinalist last week, made the task of the title aspirants a lot easier as she beat Julia Goloborodko of Ukraine in straight sets.

The Korean had earlier beaten the semifinalist at Noida, Anastasiya Vasylyeva of Ukraine, in the first round of the qualifying event itself.

The results: Singles (first round): Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Geeta Manohar 6-0, 6-1; Varanya Vijuksaboon (Tha) bt Shalini Sahoo 6-2, 6-3; Kyung-Yee Chae (Kor) bt Julia Goloborodko (Ukr) 6-4, 6-3.

Cassandra Barr (Aus) bt Ashmitha Easwaramurthi 6-1, 6-2; Parija Maloo bt Prerana Bhambri 6-3, 4-6, 6-0; Parul Goswami bt Akshitha Basavaraju 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Sanaa Bhambri bt Anupama Rajur 6-3, 6-2; Sonal Phadke bt Jung-Yoon Shin (Kor) 6-4, 6-3; Abby Hedges (Aus) bt Kelsey Sundaram (U.S.) 6-0, 6-4; Montinee Tangphong (Tha) bt Prarana Mythri 6-1, 6-1.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Ankita Bhambri-Sanaa Bhambri w/o Aishwarya Agrawal-Adnya Naik; Sophia Mulsap-Varatchaya Wongteanchai (Tha) bt Vishika Chhetri-Asha Nandakumar 6-2, 6-1; Anupama Rajur-Chirashanthi Rajur bt Sagarika Phadke-Ra gini Vimal 6-2, 6-4.

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