N Sriram Balaji thread

[sameerph]

Another first round loss for Balaji.

At $15K Sweeden F5 futures

[R1] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,326) l. Jacob ADAKTUSSON (SWE,647) 67(8) 57

Bad stint for Balaji in singles.

[sameerph]

Today, Balaji won his 6th futures title and 2nd of the year when he the $10K title at Gwalior winning the final againt Mohit.

He had 10 points to defend for this week . So, net he will add 8 points to take his ranking to a new career high of around 310 when these points are updated next week.

He has 29 more point to defend this year still. So, if he does not play any more this year he will fall to around 350 in the year end ranking. Hope, he plays a couple more futures somwhere in December to end the year at least close to top 300.

[bujilover]

Hope, he plays a couple more futures somwhere in December to end the year at least close to top 300.

There are couple of $15K+H tournaments in Togo (Western Africa ?). Im suspecting may be players like Jeevan , Balaji , Ranjeet , Kaza might play there. I wish they make use of this .

Other than that,there are 4 $10K events in Qatar the whole month of December. and 2 in Iran. Waiting to see how our players end up the year.

[sameerph]

Balaji is the only Indian playing in next 2 weeks in futures series in China.

At $15K China F10 Futures , Xi'an

[R1] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) vs. (Q) Yu Hsiang CHIU (CHN,1465)

[sameerph]

Balaji starts with a win.

At $15K China F10 Futures , Xi'an

[R1] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) d. (Q) Yu Hsiang CHIU (CHN,1465) 64 63

Next,

[R2] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) vs. Bowen OUYANG (CHN,793)

[sameerph]

Balaji had a hard fought win today.

At $15K China F10 Futures , Xi'an

[R2] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) d. Bowen OUYANG (CHN,793) 67(6) 62 76(4)

Balaji had 2 match points at 5-4, 40-15 which he could not convert and was broken back but thankfully he closed it out in the tiebreak.

Next,

[QF] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) vs. (4) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN,400)

[sameerph]

This time Balaji has a good straight sets win.

At $15K China F10 Futures , Xi'an

[QF] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) d. (4) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN,400) 63 64

Next,

[SF] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) vs. (2) Ze ZHANG (CHN,228)

This is a real tough match for Bala. Zheng is Chinese no. 1 and has several good runs at challenger level including a close win over Somdev this year. Not sure what he is doing at futures ?

[PKBasu]

Wow, nice win for Balaji -- over a higher-seeded (although lower ranked!) player. Good to have such a positive surprise outside India!

[Rahb]

He is also in the doubles final with his partner. They face the top seeds there

[R1] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) / Zhe LI (CHN) [2] 6-1 6-4 Aoran WANG (CHN) / Haitong XIA (CHN)

[QF} N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) / Zhe LI (CHN) [2] 6-4 6-4 Long CHEN (CHN) / Fajing SUN (CHN)

[SF] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) / Zhe LI (CHN) [2] 6-3 6-2 He FENG (CHN) / Yuqing NING (CHN)

[sameerph]

At $15K China F10 Futures , Xi'an

[SF] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) l. (2) Ze ZHANG (CHN,228) 26 36

I expected at least a closer scoreline but Zhang was too strong.

Doubles final will be played later today.

[suresh]

Sameer: SF not QF, right?

[Omkara]

Yup sf

[sameerph]

Yes, SF. I am making too many mistakes these days.

[Omkara]

Yes, SF. I am making too many mistakes these days.

nah!

[sameerph]

Balaji and his partner won the doubles title.

[F] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) / Zhe LI (CHN) d. (1) Yan BAI (CHN) / Ti CHEN (TPE) 46 76(2) (13-11)

Balaji has huge number of doubles titles at futures level (about 25 or thereabouts.). I think eventually he can become a very good doubles player if singles does not work out.