Sport - Tennis   

Double for Vandana

By Our Special Correspondent

Vandana Murali of Tamil Nadu (left), who claimed both the singles and the doubles titles in the AITA championship series at Mysore on Friday, poses with her doubles partner Shraddha Lodha of Maharashtra.

MYSORE June 27. Vandana Murali completed a double in the AITA under-18 championship series at the Vontikoppal Club courts here today. After her doubles triumph on Thursday with Shraddha Lodha of Maharashtra, top-seeded Vandana claimed the girls singles crown with a 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 victory over the unseeded Chirashanthi Rajur of Karnataka in 75 minutes.

The 16-year old Tamil Nadu girl will leave for Bangkok on Saturday for the ITF Grade V event.

The victory margin could have been better had Vandana played to her potential with a much sharper finish. But inexplicably, she was found wanting, missing quite a few easy ones and literally waiting for the ball to come in, instead of running them down, given her formidable forehand. The inability to score on big points, especially in the first set, stretched it to a tie-breaker, which she won and then stayed on course with a renewed focus to take the second set and the title.

Chirashanthi fought into the title round in an exemplary manner, but squandered quite a few good openings that came her way, especially in the tie-breaker where she led 5-2, but ended losing it at 7-9. The 18-year-old from Mysore still holds enough promise and one should hear more of her if she keeps competing at the higher level.

The stage was set for a tight finish in the first set when the two contenders broke each other in the first two games. Vandana found herself in trouble with her first serve and lacked control over her returns which she often sprayed out. Chirashanthi, at best had a "user friendly'' serve, which hardly bothered her rival, but her returns were potent.

The two traded breaks till the 12th game and with the scores tied at 6-all, the set slipped into the tie-breaker. Vandana made a hash of a few returns and Chirashanthi grabbed control at 5-2. Two points away from bagging the set she forced the pace, kept hitting wide and Vandana, never the one to give much leeway, quickly bridged the gap and rolled onto a 9-7 win.

With the first set in the pocket, Vandana was back in business, striking the ball sweetly while the flow of winners from Chirashanthi's racquet became scarce. A break in the fifth game put Vandana on top and she closed the set and match cracking Chirashanthi again in the ninth game, blasting a forehand winner.

Earlier in the semifinals, Vandana Murali made short work of Priya Pachkwade of Maharashtra at 6-3, 6-4. Chirashanthi, with her double-fisted returns which she hit with power on both the flanks, defeated Shraddha Lodha of Maharashtra 6-4, 6-4.

Arjun meets Kiran in boys' final

It will be an all-Karnataka boys singles final with the second seed, N. Kiran Kumar meeting the third seed G. Arjun. Arjun survived some anxious moment before quelling the spirited challenge from Allan Gomes of Gujarat. Both the youngsters played at a scorching pace and traded some solid returns.

If Arjun had a more effective forehand, Gomes, was consistent with his double-fisted backhand, but when it came to serves, both had a tough time holding on. Both the sets saw repeated breaks before Arjun, showing steady nerves and playing with a better consistency, grabbed the winning breaks in the 12th game of both the sets to take the set match at 7-5, 7-5.

In the other semifinal, Kiran Kumar prevailed over the fourth seed, Rohan Gide of Maharashtra. Rohan put too much pressure on himself in trying to step up the pace. Kiran came back from a 0-3 deficit in the first set to win it at 7-5 with some hard hit forehand winners.

Rohan was down but not out and he came back strongly to take second set at 6-4. In the decider with the temperature soaring, Rohan seemed to lose the momentum and Kiran powered his way to a facile 6-2 win.

In the boys doubles the top-seeded Karnataka pair of G. Arjun and N. Kiran Kumar entered the final by registering a hard-earned 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 win over Koushik S. Raju (Karnataka) and Nishendran (Sri Lanka) in a match that lasted for 95 minutes. Kiran and Arjun are also in line for a double having earlier made the singles final.

In the other semifinal, unseeded S. Prateek and Manu Bajpai of Karnataka combined well to beat the Maharashtra duo of Rohan Gide and Allan Gomes 6-2, 6-2.

The results: Girls U-18 (final): Vandana Murali (TN) bt M.R. Chirashanthi 7-6 (9-7), 6-3. Semifinals: Vandana Murali (TN) bt Priya Pachkwade (Mah) 6-3,6-4; M.R. Chirashanthi (Kar) bt Shraddha Lodha (Mah) 6-4,6-4.

Boys U-18 singles (semifinals): N. Kiran Kumar (Kar) bt Rohan Gide (Mah) 7-5,4-6,6-2; G. Arjun (Kar) bt Allan Gomes (Mah) 7-5, 7-5. Doubles (semifinals): G. Arjun & N. Kiran Kumar (Kar) bt Koushik S. Raju (Kar) & Nishendran (SL) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2; S. Prateek & Manu Bajpai (Kar) bt Rohan Gide & Allan Gomes (Mah) 6-2, 6-2.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Cricket

• Grant Flower lifts Zimbabwe to victory
• King in for Le Roux
• West Indies puts Sri Lanka in
• Middle-order batting worries for England
  
  Tennis
  
• Roddick on a roll, in fourth round
• Double for Vandana
• Hat-trick for Prakash Amritraj
  
  Football
  
• Foe's death overshadows Cameroon's win
• Thumping win for President XI
  
  Chess
  
• PSPB continues to lead after a controversial match
• Dzagnidze beats Harika, extends lead
  
  Swimming
  
• Rehan sets sights on Olympic qualification
  
  

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu