And then there were two!! Full-time brothers and part-time players Bharat and Haresh kept their unbeaten record intact defeating Rizwan and Ayaz respectively to advance to the finals of the inaugral AATP Championship at MSLTA, Mumbai. However, it was 33 year old Kailash Kandpal (a.k.a. Jonty) who turned out to be the true revelation of the opening rounds.
Kandpal, who recently graduated from the Table Tennis arena to the tennis lawn courts, came within one point of reaching the semi-finals earlier this afternoon with a display of gutsy tennis and proof that size DOES NOT matter - not on the tennis court atleast. After a convincing 6-2 win over Ashutosh in the opeing round of Group Agassi, Jonty faced-off against Bharat in a David vs Goliath battle. And he nearly pulled off what would have been a stunning upset, only losing 5-7 in a tight exciting contest that even piqued the interest of the players playing on the adjacent court.
Playing Ayaz with a semi-final berth on the line, Jonty raced to a 5-0 lead; only to see Ayaz come back and win 7 games on the trot, saving a match point en route and crashing Jonty's semi final dreams by the end of it.
When he's not rocking Dalal Street with his equity tips or playing Daddy cool with his 9 month old son Rohan, Jonty goes about beating his opponents with a game thats a throwback to an earlier time in tennis. Nimble-footed and big-hearted, Jonty's game is based on a simple plan - get EVERYTHING back. And get back everything he does!! Just ask Bharat!! Jonty's Dementieva-like serve, energizer bunny-like speed and Chang-like ability to retrieve had Bharat scrambling all around the court and STRAIGHT to the bathroom at one stage.
Built on a small-frame that helps him glide around the court like a butterfly, Jonty's game and attitude won him several fans this week, this writer included. Rest assued, come next tournament, he'll have one more person rooting for him from the stands. UNLESS he happens to be playing someone that goes by the name of Ramchandani :)
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