Indians continue to dominate

NEW DELHI, APRIL 25. The Indian boys wound up in style, and it was Tushar Liberhan's turn to clinch the title in the second tournament of the ITF East Asian under-14 tennis circuit, last week in Ho Chi Minh City.

Tushar Liberhan, who had won two titles in the ITF Central Asian circuit earlier in Islamabad, beat Karan Rastogi, 3-0 as the latter retired. The top-seeded Karan had won the first tournament, beating Tushar in the final.

Their fine performances should ensure the Indian boys berths in the ITF Asian team for the European circuit later in the season.

The second-seeded Tushar defeated fifth-seeded Chung Yuan Yi of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals, Jantrick De Castro of Philippines 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and Sarrun Kaewjinda of Thailand 6-4, 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals after a bye in the first round.

Karan beat fourth-seeded Wasif Cheema of Pakistan 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals, after subduing the eighth-seeded Kirati Siributwong of Thailand 6-0, 3-6, 7-5 in the quarterfinals. The top-seed did not drop a game in the second round against Andrew Magaway fo Philippines after a bye in the first round.

In doubles, the third-seeded Tushar and Karan retired at 6-4, 2- 3, in the final against the second-seeded Armendio Anggara and Jonathan Amdanu of Indonesia, who had beaten them in three sets in the semifinals the earlier week also.

Tushar and Karan beat the top-seeded Nattaphon Pongkunsab and Sarrun Kaewjinda of Thailand 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals, after beating Sunu Trijati of Indonesia and Michael Adrian Basco of Philippines 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Sania Mirza did not have it that good in the girls section, as she lost in the semifinals to Yi Chen of Chinese Taipei 3-6, 2-6, after having made the final in the first week. Sania beat Wai Mun Yiu of Hong Kong 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and Linda Arumsari of Indonesia 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.

In doubles, Sania and Phaphawee Sriphathnata of Thailand beat Tgonoc Tran Luong and Thhuha Mai of Vietnam 6-1, 6- 0 in the first round and lost to the top-seeded Su-Wei Hsieh and Yi Chen of Taipei 0-6, 4-6 in the semifinals in a draw of eight.

Rohan bags a double

MYSORE, APRIL 25. Pune-based Rohan Boppanna, playing some crafty tennis, won both the singles and doubles titles in the 14th Annual Pioneers tennis club tournament held recently at Somwarpet.

Rohan Boppanna outsmarted R. Nagaraj (Income Tax, Mysore) 6-3, 6- 4 to clinch the men's singles title.

In the doubles, teaming up with Sharath Chittiyanna (Madahapur), Rohan beat Mysore's R. Nagaraj and Harish Babu in a keenly- contested encounter at 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Mysore's S.G. Adarsh won the under-16 boys' singles title beating team-mate S. Prateek (Mys) 6-3, 6-3 in the final. S. Prateek (Mys) was adjudged as the outstanding player of the tournament.

The results: Men's singles: Final: : Rohan Boppanna (Pune) bt R. Nagaraj (Mys) 6-3, 6-4. Semifinals: Rohan Boppanna (Pune) bt Harish Babu (Mys) 6-2, 6-3; R. Nagaraj (Mys) bt Prabhanjan (Mys) 6-3, 6-4.

Men's doubles: Final: Rohan Boppanna & Sharath Chittiyanna bt R. Nagaraj & Harish Babu (Mys) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Semifinals: R. Nagaraj & Harish Babu (Mys) bt S.G. Adarsh & Raghav Prasad (Mys) 6-2, 6-2.Boys' under-16: Final: S.G. Adarsh (Mys) bt S. Prateek (Mys) 6-3, 6-3. Semifinals: S.G. Adarsh (Mys) bt S. Pradeep (Mys) 6-2, 6-3; S. Prateek (Mys) bt S. Vijaykumar (Mys) 6-3, 6-4.

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