Hyun-Woo beats Kannan in straight sets

Chandigarh, Mar 31 (UNI) Third seed Hyun-Woo Nam of Korea taught a tennis lesson to Indian Vijay Kannan with a straight set 6-3, 6-4 verdict in a first round match of the 10,000 US Doller India F5 Futures ITF Men's Circuit at the CLTA Stadium here today.

In a first-round encounter between unseeded Russians, Danila Arsenov outpointed Sergei Krotiouk in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

Only two singles matches in the main draw were scheduled for today.

Earlier, five Indians made it to the main draw of 32 through qualifying rounds played this mornng. Top seeded Vishnu Vardhan, third seed Virali Murugesan, fourth seed Rupesh Roy, Siriluethaiwattana P and Murali Mithun defeated their respective rivals in the final qualifying round matches.

Mithun Murali caused a mild upset by stunning Chinese second seed Ye Du in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. Vishnu Vardhan ended the challenge of Idan Rosenberg of Israel 6-3, 7-6 (4) to move into the main draw. Virali Murugesan dropped just two games as he defeated Prajnesh Gunndswaran in straight sets 6-0, 6-2.

However, Rupesh Roy and Siriluethaiwattana P were engaged in hard-fought final qualifying round matches. Playing on centre court, Rupesh Roy faced a tough resistance before overcoming a stubborn Chinese Qi Xiao in a natch extended to three sets 3-6, 6-3 7-6 (6).

Down by first set, Siriluethaiwattana staged a grand rally to snuff out the challenge of N Vijay Sunder Prashanth 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Chinese Ji Shi and Zhuo-Qing Zhou also advanced to the main draw with easy victories. Ji Shi ousted 15th seed Hui Zhang, also of China, 6-3, 6-3 and Zhuo-Qing Zhou shocked fifth seed Ilya Belyaev of Russia 6-3, 6-3. South African 10th seed Ciaran Moore toiled to overcome Austrian sixth seed Chrstoph Lessiak of Austria in closely-contested final round 6-7 (11), 6-4, 7-5.

Earlier, former Punjab Director General of Police Sarabjit Singh inaugurated the tournament. Accompanied by CLTA Chairman Rajan Kashyap and Silver Badge ITF Referee Puneet Gupta was introduced to the players.

Results: Qualifying (final round): Rupesh Roy (Ind) bt Xiao Qi (Chn) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), Ji Shi (Chn) bt Hui Zhang (Chn) 6-3, 6-3, Zhuo-Qing Zhou (Chn) bt Ilya Belyaev (Rus) 6-4, 6-3, Ciaran Moore (Rsa) bt Christoph Lessiak (Aut) 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5, Perakiat Siriluethaiwattana (Tha) bt N. Vijay sundar Prashanth (Ind) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, Ranjeet Virali Murugesan (Ind) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran (Ind) 6-0, 6-2, Vishnu Vardhan (Ind) bt Idan Rosenberg (Isr) 6-3, 7-6 (4), Mithun Murali (Ind) bt Ye Du (Chn) 6-4, 6-2.

Main draw: Singles (Ist round): Hyun-Woo Nam (Kor) bt Vijay Kannan (Ind) 6-3, 6-4, Danila Arsenov (Russia) bt Sergei Krotiouk (Russia) 6-4, 6-3.

Men's doubles (Ist round): Roman Jebavy (Cze) and Nathan Thomas (USA) bt Hsin-Han Lee (Tpe)/Yu Jr Wang (China) 6-4, 6-3.

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