Natekar to face Hilpert in final

DULIAJAN (ASSAM), Dec 26: Vikram Venkatraghavan had reason to to be disappointed. ``I missed my best chance,'' he said after second seed Ga...

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DULIAJAN (ASSAM), Dec 26: Vikram Venkatraghavan had reason to to be disappointed. “I missed my best chance,” he said after second seed Gaurav Natekar deprived him of a place in the final of the OIL-AITA National Grasscourt tennis championships being here. Natekar meets German Marcus Hilpert, who dismissed defending champion Nitin Kirtane in straight sets, in the final.

Natekar has a tough job on his hands if he has stop a German from becoming the national champion.

In the women’s section, Manisha Malhotra drubbed Archana Venkatraman in just over an hour and will meet seventh seed Uzma Khan in the final.

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Uzma Khan, once again seeded below her opponent J Sai Jayalakshmy, made a significant statement in her 6-3, 6-1 win which lasted 55 minutes. Playing on Court two at a time when Natekar-Venkatraghavan were hogging the limelight on Court one, the consistent Uzma controlled the game well from the baseline. In Saturday’s final, Uzma will finally be playing serve and volleyer Manisha which should make for a good contest. The Natekar-Venkatraghavan match, the show piece of the day, lasted a marathon three hours 23 minutes, the longest in the tournament so far.

“My serves weren’t working today but Gaurav returned very well, and the only way I could have beaten him was by getting my serves right,” Venkatraghavan said later.

Venkatraghavan lost the first set tie-breaker 2-7, but came back to take the second set 6-3.

In the decider, Venkatraghavan kept his cool going a break up in the third game. However, Natekar with some brilliant passing shots, broke back in the very next game. Venkatraghavan led again but Natekar levelled 5-5 with a down-the-line return of serve winner.

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The 12th game turned out to be a thriller with Venkatraghavan saving four match points. The game saw seven deuce before Venkatraghavan took the match into the tie-breaker.

Natekar held on to his nerves better than Venkatraghavan in the tie-breaker. The second seed was 5-0 ahead before Venkatraghavan could get focussed again. However, it was too late for him.

The women’s semi-finals were tame affairs. Archana, seeded higher than her opponent Manisha, managed to put up a semblance of a resistance in the first set. But that was as far as she could go. Manisha needed just 25 minutes to rout Archana 6-0 in the second. The final scorecard read 6-4, 6-0 in favour of Manisha.

Manisha, pairing with Jahnavi Parekh, defeated Janaki Krishnamoorthy and Sai Jayalakshmy 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to lift the ladies doubles title. Hilpert too remained in contention for the double when be and Asif Ismail won the men’s doubles. They beat Nitin Kirtane and Amod Wakalkar 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

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RESULTS: Men’s semi-finals: Gaurav Natekar bt Vikram Venkatraghavan 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3); Marcus Hilpert bt Nitin Kirtane 6-4, 6-3. Doubles final: Marcus Hilpert/Asif Ismail bt Nitin Kirtane/Amod Wakalkar 7-6(2), 6-4.

Women’s semi-finals: Manisha Malhotra bt Archana Venkatraman 6-4, 6-0; Uzma Khan bt Sai Jayalakshmy 6-3, 6-1. Doubles final: Manisha Malhotra/Jahnavi Parekh bt Janaki Krishnamoorthy/Sai Jayalakshmy 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.