Prajnesh crashes out of ITF futures semis

New Delhi, Sep 12 (UNI) Indian challenge came to an end as Prajnesh Gunneswaran failed to carry forward his promising form as he was forced to surrender by Pakistan's Aqeel Khan 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the 15,000 dollar ITF futures at the R K Khanna stadium here today.

Prajnesh, who has been playing back-to-back matches for last four days, could not get a kick start as Aqeel broke him in the second game.

The 18-year-old left-hander squandered chances to make a come back into the match. As many as five breakpoints including three in the final game, came his way but the Indian could not make use of any of those to give away the first set to his rival.

Prajnesh not only had to battle with his Pakistani opponent but with a stomach cramp as well which required a medical attention in the second set.

Aqeel was in no mood to show any mercy and broke Prajnesh in the first and third game as he raced to a 4-0 lead. The Indian did manage to hold on to his next two serves but could not avoid the inevitable as the Pakistani sealed the match in little over an hour.

Later, Prajnesh said he was not feeling weel which was one of the reasons for his downfall.

''By the end of the first set my stomach started hurting me.

I did get a good number of opportunities but physically I wasn't feeling good,'' Prajnesh said.

Seeded sevent in the tournament, Aqeel will now take on top seed German Peter Gojowczyk for a title clash tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Gojowczyk looked in top form as he brushed aside Hsin Han Lee of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 6-1 to storm into the finals.

In the doubles' match today, top seed pair of Ashutosh Singh and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya hammered Vishnu Vardhan and Divij Sharan 6-2, 6-2 to win the trophy.

UNI RAR RKM HT2010