Central / West Asian Challengers - May,June 2019

[sameerph]

After the challenger swing in China, Taiwan and Korea ( last tournament in Korea next week), caravan moves to Central Asia with tournaments in Uzbekistan, Kazakshtan and Israel. I am including Israel here although technically it is not in Asia but in the close vicinity.

These are the tournaments we can discuss here -

May 13 - $54K(+H) Samrkand Challenger,Uzbekistan (Clay) - Sumit Nagal and Arjun Kadhe in main draw
May 20- $54K(+H) Jerusalem Challenger, Israel (Hard) - Saketh Myneni and Sasi Kumar Mukund in main draw
Week's break
June 3- Almaty Challenger, Kazakhstan (Clay)
June 10- Shyamkent Challenger, Kazakhstan (Clay)
June 17 - Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan (Hard)

Entry lists for next 3 weeks are not out yet. Most probably will see Sumit play on clay in Kazakhstan, mostly Mukund, Arjun may too. For Saketh it may worth going to UK to play big challengers on grass as he has a chance of playing Wimbledon qualies too.

[jaydeep]

As mentioned before, Sumit has joined Arjun in the Uzbek ... Sumit is seeded so getting one more day extra rest ... Arjun has a tougher match against a Brazilian kid on the clay.
In the doubles, a tough draw for Arjun and Denis as they r playing the top-seeds.

At $54K+H Samarkand Challenger 2019, Kazakhstan

[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND,399) vs Thiago Seyboth Wild (BRA,365)
[R1] (15) Sumit Nagal (IND,303) bye

Doubles
[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Denis Yevseyev (KAZ) vs (1) Goncalo Oliveira (POR)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)

[PKBasu]

Arjun is putty on clay:

[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND,399) l. Thiago Seyboth Wild (BRA,365) 06 36

He should have found some grass to play on in England instead. Stay there for as long as he can...But I suppose he is here in quest of some doubles points.

[sameerph]

Grass season starts only in June and with his current ranking, Arjun will not be able to able to play those grass challengers.

[R2] (15) Sumit Nagal (IND,303) vs. Sadio Doumbia (FRA,373)

[sameerph]

Sumit thru to the third round with a 3 set win.

At $54K+H Samarkand Challenger 2019, Kazakhstan

[R2] (15) Sumit Nagal (IND,303) d. Sadio Doumbia (FRA,373) 64 16 61

He will be next up against the winner of second seed 158th ranked Gerasimov and Kazakh wild card 358th ranked Dimitry Popko. Popko reached Shyamkent challenger final last week. So, either way it will be a tough one for Sumit. That second round match will only be played tomorrow. So, Sumit will get one extra day of rest.

[PKBasu]

Popko beat Gerasimov in straight sets, so Sumit will play him tomorrow in R3.

[sameerph]

Yes, Popko seems to be in very good form having reached the final last week and now beating the second seed in straight sets.

In doubles, Arjun and his partner lost in straight sets.

At $54K+H Samarkand Challenger 2019, Kazakhstan

[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Denis Yevseyev (KAZ) l. (1) Goncalo Oliveira (POR)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 46 63 6-10

Next,

[R3] (15) Sumit Nagal (IND,303) vs. (WC) Dimitry Popko (KAZ,358)

[Dinesh]

Popko won 7 ITF titles (all in clay) this year already. I’m expecting this going the distance.

[arjun2761]

Tough match for Sumit playing an inform opponent in his home country but this is a match which Sumit needs to win to continue progressing. He has the game to do it but will have to stay patient and slug it out...

[Dinesh]

Samarkand is in Uzbekistan, so technically no home advantage for Popko lol but this still will be one to watch out for. Good luck to Sumit!

[PKBasu]

Samarkand is where Timur built his Bibi-Khanym mosque immediately after his Indian campaign in 1399. And Babur considered Samarkand his capital -- although he was born in Andijan (in the Fergana valley) -- and only turned to India after winning and losing Samarkand several times in his first 10-15 years on the throne of Fergana (a century after Timur's depredations).
So Indian players have traditionally done very well in Uzbekistan, including in Samarkand. In that spirit, Sumit will hopefully not have the disadvantage playing a Kazakh player, especially one with European roots. Popko was born in St. Petersburg, further from Samarkand than Delhi.

[PKBasu]

Sumit Nagal Beats Dimitry Popko, last week’s Shymkent finalist (with a career high of 178 two years ago) 76(7) 63.
Terrific win, and Sumit is truly back!!

[suresh]

Next up is Spaniard Ortega-Olmedo who took out the fifth seed Lucas Miedler in R3.

[QF] (15) Sumit Nagal (IND, 303) vs (12) Roberto Ortega-Olmedo (ESP, 300)

[sameerph]

Excellent win by Sumit against an in-form clay court specialist. His next opponent is a Spaniard but who seems to have played more on hard courts rather than clay.

Go Sumit.

[PKBasu]

Definitely another winnable match for Sumit. He is ranked 292 in the live rankings and needs to win this tournament to edge into the FO qualifiers...