Poonacha fails to qualify for main draw

BY KIRTI PATIL

Pune: Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha,  the lone Indian in the qualifying final round fought bravely in the first set, but his meek surrender in the second  and final set cost him the “qualifier” spot in the main draw of the PMR Open ATP challenger Men’s 100 tennis championship  being organised by the Maharashtra State lawn tennis association (MSLTA) at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Tennis Stadium, here on Monday.

Domnik Palan of the Czech Republic  scored a facile 6-4,6-1 win over Poonacha in an hour and 18 minutes match to enter the main draw .  In an upset youngster Yunseong Chung of Korea Ranked 359 beat top seed  Jay Clarke of Great Britain ranked   299  7-6(7-0), 6-3 in 1 hour and  25 mins .

Second seeded Nikola Milojevic of Serbia  came through a close match to oust  Dayne Kelly of Australia 7-6(7-0), 6-4 , Benjamin Lock of Zimbabwe  received a walkover from fourth seed Alibek Kachmazov of Russia  who did not take the court due to illness.

Makoto Ochi of  Japan  outplayed eighth seeded Carlos Sanchez Jover 6-2, 6-4 , while Akira Santillan(of Australia  came from back from the loss of first set to get past a fighting Colin Sinclair North Mariana Islands  6-7(7-5), 7-5, 6-2 in the longest match of the day lasting 2hrs, 27mins .

Maestrelli, Noguchi in main draw Round two

In the two  First round matches of the main draw scheduled on the day, both the eventual winners rallied from a set down to beat their respective opponents and advanced into the second round. Fifth seeded Italian Francesco Maestrellli struggled to get past Australian   Marc Polmans  before winning  1-6, 6-1, 6-2 on  the centre court match. On Court 1 round 1 encounter Japan’s eighth seeded Rio Nogauchi was given a  fright before overcoming eighth seeded Czech Republic’s Marek Gengel  4-6, 6-2, 7-6(7-1) in a match played over 2hrs and 5 mins.

With the majority of Main Draw starting tomorrow all eyes will be on the four Indians in the draw Prajnesh Gunneswaran , Sumit Nagal , Sasikumar Mukund and Arjun Kadhe who will start their singles campaigns .

The Results: Final Qualifying Round:

Yunseong Chung (KOR)(7)  bt  Jay Clarke (GBR)(1) 7-6(7-0), 6-3(1 hr, 25 mins)

Nikola Milojevic (SRB)(2) bt Dayne Kelly (AUS) 7-6(7-0), 6-4 (1hr, 58 mins)

Benjamin Lock (ZIM) W/O Alibek Kachmazov (RUS)(7-4)

Makoto Ochi (JPN) bt Carlos Sanchez Jover (ESP)(10-8) 6-2, 6-4 (1 hr, 20mins)

Dominik Palan (CZE)(11) bt  (WC) Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) 6-4, 6-1(1hr, 18mins)

Akira Santillan (AUS) bt  Colin Sinclair (NMI) 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2(2hrs, 27mins)

Main Draw: First Round: Singles:

Francesco Maestrelli (ITA) [5] bt  Marc Polmans (AUS) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2(1hr, 43mins)

Rio Noguchi (JPN) [8] bt Marek Gengel (CZE) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(1)(2hrs, 5mins)