NEW DELHI, India, Reuter: The sudden arrival of the monsoon rains in New Delhi put an end to Israel’s unhappy Davis Cup quarterfinal tie against India.
The trip was 4 diplomatic successes for the Israelis. It was the first time India, a staunch supporter of the Palestinians, had met an Israel team in a sports event on Indian soil.
But in terms of tennis the world group tie was a disaster for Israel who did not win a single set. Only the rain prevented a 50 whitewash by India.
The official score was left at 40 when the final singles between Shlomo Glickstein and Indian substitute Srinivasan Vasudevan was abandoned as a draw. The Indian had won the first set 108 and was 1530 down in the opening game of the second when rain stopped play.
Earlier, Ramesh Krishnan won the first reverse singles against number one Amos Mansdorf 108 60.
Mansdorf echoed Glickstein’s performance against Krishnan on the first day, simply folding up after losing the first set this time without the excuse of heat or crowd pressure to save his team’s blushes.
Earlier, police beat off anti-Israeli protesters trying to storm the stadium before India lead. Israel in their Davis Cup world group quarterfinal tie against Israel.
Just before the match, police used baton charges to drive off about 200 Arab and Israeli youths, who rushed across a busy avenue towards the heavily guarded stadium shouting support for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO),
Police said no one was injured and there were no arrests but traffic was disrupted for more than 30 minutes. Demonstrators said they were from the Students Federation of India and the Indo Arab Friendship Society.
They were protesting against India’s decision to meet an Israeli team in a sports event on Indian soil for the first time.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 31, 1987
