$25K+K India-1 ITF satellites

Post by **jayakris** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 2:33 pm

Wow, Gurmehar!!

Late maturing Gurmehar knocks out Britain's Irwin in ITF tennis

Gurgaon, June 2 (PTI) Gurmehar Singh continued with his giant killing act to upset seventh seed Richard Irwin of Britain and enter the singles semifinals at the $25,000 ITF Satellite men's tennis circuit at the National Tennis Academy here today.

Gurmehar Singh, son of hockey legend Ajit Pal Singh, overcame an indifferent start and made the most Irwin's wilting stamina under the debilitating heat to score a spectacular 6-4 6-1 victory in the quarterfinals of the first leg.

The Delhi-based 23-year old, rank outsider at 1251 on the ATP Tour computer, said he was perhaps maturing late in his career. "I think I have matured as a player in recent years. A bit late perhaps. I think it is the case with all Indians," said Gurmehar who would be playing in his first semifinal.

He beat Davis Cupper Vishal Uppal in the first round before packing off upcoming lad Tushar Liberhan in the second.

Gurmehar, a naturally gifted athlete and a strong doubles player with Ashutosh Singh but who has not done justice to his potential in the singles so far, said learning to control his wild temper was another reason behind his recent winning run.

"I am learning how to blow it and keep it in check," he said adding, "I also brought my girl friend along with me which also motivated me to do well." Having raced his Safari through the traffic snarl all the way from Delhi, about 50 kilometres away, Gurmehar arrived just in time for his match.

INteresting news item from PTI .. But no news on the other matches yet. Good to see Ajit pal's son getting some exposure. He is a "strapping guy," as Kamesh always describes him, and has a hard serve and good net tools. A late bloomer on his way? .. I hope so!

Jay

PKBasu · Post by **PKBasu** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:02 pm

It's really exciting to see Gurmehar Singh suddenly burst upon the scene in this dramatic manner. That he is Ajitpal's son is the icing on the cake for many of us old-time hockey fans!
Any idea about the other semifinalists?

Post by **Dhruv** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 7:27 pm

The results:

Rohan Bopanna bt Stephen Mitchell (RSA) 61 64
Salifu Mohammed (Gha) bt Vijay Sundar Prashant 64 46 75
Gurmehar Singh bt Richard Irwin (GBR) 64 61
Prima Simpatiaji (Ina) bt Pathanjali Ravishankar 61 62

And in doubles
Bopanna/Kannan bt Kirtane/Uppal 57 62 75
Jaco Mathew/Ashutosh Singh bt Salifu Mohammed/Tarralle 62 67 (3) 63

gvhvhg · Post by **gvhvhg** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:11 pm

Great week for VSP and GS!!!!!!! Lets hope that thaey are the latest stars of Indian Tennis!...Looking forward to an all indian final!!!!!!!

amr090 · Post by **amr090** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:53 pm

Bofors is quietly mowing through the opposition. If he can dominate this satellite a la Simon Gruel some months back he can really jumpstart his ranking up to something extremely respectable.

arjun2761 · Post by **arjun2761** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 3:28 am

Boy, this has to be one of the worst fields for a satellite. There is almost no under 500 and even the ones in the 500s are mostly Indians. I suppose the heat has something to do with it.

jaydeep · Post by **jaydeep** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 4:15 am

Rohan still not tested in this satellite ... I m hoping he will took all this opportunity to move into Top 400.

Gurmehar Singh's performance is really surprising one ... Wishing what he told to media become true .. With performance from Salifu Mohammed of Ghana ... I think Rohan having big test in SF.

Jaydeep.

Triple N · Post by **Triple N** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:19 am

hey everyone
nice couple of matches today at the NTA.
rohan beat salifu...sorry dont know the scores for tht one

in the other match, between gurmehar and simpatiaji, simaptiagi won in straight sets 7-6, 6-3
in the first set, it was very close as both guys played well enough to not let anyone take any lead. however simpatiaji took the tie breaker very comfortably to put himself up.
at the start of the second set, gurmehar seemed like he was getting a little frustrated with a lot of unforced errors(credit to simpatiaji for some of them)....probably the heat and occasional windy condition at the courts made it a bit tough for gurmehar to make a comeback and after trading breaks of serve in the first couple of games, prima simpatiaji took the decisive break and held on for the rest of the set to win the match.
prima simpatiaji: good job, he now meets rohan in the final
gurmehar: tough loss, cos he seemed like he could have beaten prima, but only for a little too many errors in the second set. for quite a tall guy like him, i personally thought he didnt really use his reach to his advantage...anyway he looks like he gettin bettr.

suresh · Post by **suresh** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 10:31 am

I have never seen Gurmehar play. He may be a late bloomer like
Rohan Bopanna( who by the way claims that he does not know how
the name Bofors came about -- well that's what he told NDTV). It
seems that Gurmehar was late to his match against Irwin by about
five minutes and almost had to drive his vehicle into the court. He promptly got broken in the first game of the match. Speaks something
of his mental strength to recover and beat a seeded player. Just as
the Bofors scandal is in the news again, we seem to have got a new
big gun(does he have a big serve?) showing up in Indian tennis.

Triple N · Post by **Triple N** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 11:34 am

suresh wrote:(does he have a big serve?)

its a good serve, but not one of his strong points though, probably because(IMHO) he could put his height to a lot bettr use....its a good serve nonetheless.

jaydeep · Post by **jaydeep** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 11:43 am

Thanks Triple N for giving detail match info ... Nice to see Rohan moves to final (It would be more surprising if that not happened) ... So now he will face Indonasian in the final.

Jaydeep.

insideout · Post by **insideout** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 11:43 am

Great week for Gurmehar!!! Sad to see VIjay Sundar Prashant losing.....
Great playing from the Ghananian Salifu Mohammed.....

Rohan on testing grounds at the SF.....

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!!!

PKBasu · Post by **PKBasu** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 9:25 am

The singles final will be between Bopanna and Prima Simpatiji. Rohan and Vijay Kannan, however, lost the doubles final to Jacco Mathew and Ashutosh Singh. Here's the excellent, detailed report from the Hindu:

http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/04/stories ... 831800.htm

vishnureddy · Post by **vishnureddy** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 10:02 am

Bopanna won 6-3 6-2

Way to go Rohan!!

A match report of PTI

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/00 ... 041322.htm

brightsideup · Post by **brightsideup** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 10:30 am

Good win for rohan!
I would say he should try and make a satellite slam by winning all 4 weeks.
This is one of the weakest field this time. the other guy simpatiaji is know to be an erratic player with limited resources. him getting to the finals should be suggestive of the quality of the field over there in gurgaon.
so in all likeness, this is rohans opportunity of the summer for a small windfall of points.