Superior court-craft helps Duckworth quell the Kuzmanov challenge
The Hindu
BENGALURU: Second seed James Duckworth quelled Dimitar Kuzmanov’s challenge 6-4, 6-1 to enter the se
Second seed James Duckworth quelled Dimitar Kuzmanov’s challenge 6-4, 6-1 to enter the semifinals of the dafaNEWS Bengaluru Open at the KSLTA courts on Friday. In the last-four clash, he will meet fellow Australian and qualifier James McCabe.
The straightforward scoreline was deceptive at best, for Duckworth, starting under the blazing noon sun, had to break a lot of sweat. Rallies were extended and a majority of the games went to deuce.
It helped Duckworth that in both sets he ran-up 3-0 leads from where Kuzmanov could only play catch-up. The Bulgarian tried to be brave and went for the lines consistently. But Duckworth’s superior court-craft carried the day.
Towards the evening, top seed and last year’s winner Chun-hsin Tseng was blasted off the court by Hamad Medjedovic in straight sets. The Serb will meet Australia’s Max Purcell who got past Italy’s Luca Nardi.
In doubles, the Indian pair of Anirudh Chandrasekar and N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth fought off Arjun Kadhe and Maximilian Neuchrist 7-6(1), 4-6, [10-2] to enter the final.
The results (Singles, quarterfinals): James Duckworth (Aus) bt Dimitar Kuzmanov (Bul) 6-4, 6-1; James McCabe (Aus) bt Harold Mayot (Fra) 6-3, 7-6(4); Hamad Medjedovic (Srb) bt Chun-hsin Tseng (Tpe) 6-1, 6-2; Max Purcell (Aus) bt Luca Nardi (Ita) 6-2, 6-0.
Doubles (semifinals): Anirudh Chandrasekar & N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Arjun Kadhe & Maximilian Neuchrist (Aut) 7-6(1), 4-6, [10-2]; Yunseong Chung (Kor) & Yu Hsiou Hsu (Tpe) bt Marc Polmans & Max Purcell (Aus) 6-4, 6-4.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.