Mixed luck for Austrians players

CHANDIGARH, Dec 4: University of Klagenfurt, Austria had a mixed luck in their second leg of their India tour as they lost two singles an...

CHANDIGARH, Dec 4: University of Klagenfurt, Austria had a mixed luck in their second leg of their India tour as they lost two singles and one doubles exhibition tennis matches arranged by the Sports Authority of India at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association Sports Complex, Sector 10 here today. They played nine matches against Punjab University players and CLTA coaches.

The visitors are touring the country under the cultural exchange programme between India and Austria. They came here after playing in Jaipur from November 30 to December 1. According to Riaz Ahmed, SAI coordinator from Delhi, the visitors will now move to Delhi where they are scheduled to play exhibition matches on December 7 and 8 and complete their programme with matches in Agra on December 10 to 11.

The Austrians mostly play on synthetic surface in their country. They took time to adjust their game on grass courts in Jaipur. However, they found the facilities at the CLTA Complex `excellent’ with three types of courts available here. They played singles matches on synthetic courts while the doubles were conducted on the Centre grass courts.

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Their leader disclosed that his players compete in the Carinthlan League and are not in the ATP ranking. Their top player, the left-handed Roth Jurgen was today pitted against Gagandeep Wasu of Panjab University. Roth Jurgen staged a fine rally after losing the first set at 6-7 (7-5). After settling down, Roth Jurgen served with power and foxed Wasu with his well-executed backhand slices. He won the next two games at 6-2, 6-0.

Another Austria to win his singles match was Markus Jordan who prevailed over plucky a J P Singh of Panjab University 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

In other singles matches, Robin Dhingra (CLTA) beat Stattmann Christian (Austria) 6-0, 6-0; Saurab Sharma (CLTA) defeated Onitsch Harald 6-2, 6-3. Vivek Sharma outplayed Six Ulf (Austria) 6-1, 6-3 and former Asian junior champion Mayank Capoor (CLTA) silenced Glockner Christof 6-3, 6-3.

Later, Mayank Capoor and Sandeep Singh (CLTA) waged a tough fight before losing to Stattmann Christian and Markus Jordan (Austria) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).

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Other Results: Doubles: J P Singh and Gagandeep bt Onitsch Harald and Statmann Christian (Austria) 6-4, 6-2 and Robin Dhindgar and Saurabh Sharma bt Glockner Christof and Six Ulf (Aust) 6-2, 6-1.