New Delhi: It was all over for Vishnu
Vardhan in the singles event of the ATP Challenger tournament
in Kyoto after suffering first round defeat but his challenge
was still alive in the doubles event where he made the
quarter-finals along with with Divij Sharan.
Vishnu put up a good fight against Australia's Sadik
Kadir and even took the first set but lost 7-6(4), 2-6, 4-6 in
the USD 35,000 carpet event.
He though progressed to the doubles last-eight pair stage
with Divij after the pair recorded an easy 6-4, 6-2 win over
local wild card pair of Tasuku Iwami and Kentic Takeuchi.
Another Indian progressing to the doubles quarterfinals
was Purav Raja, who along with Kadir, beat Yuichi Ito and
Yuich Sugita in straight sets.
The third seed Indo-Australian pair beat the local pair
6-3, 6-4 in the first round match.
They will next take on another local pair in Junr
Mitsuhashi and Takao Suzuki.
Vishnu and Divij are up against Greg Jones and Jose
Statham, who stunned top seed Australians Rameez Junaid and
Joesph Sirianni 6-2, 6-2 in their opening round.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 18:16