Top seed Karthik Karunakaran overcame a late resistance from Shekar Veeraswamy for a 6-1, 7-5 victory in the final of the AITA Rs.200,000 wheelchair tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Sunday.
Karthik led 6-1, 4-1 before Shekar won many rounds of applause from the appreciative gathering with his delectable game. However, at the crunch, Karthik was able to assert himself for a straight-set triumph.
In fact, Karthik had dropped only six games in all on way to the final.
Later, Karthik was beaten in the doubles final, in partnership with Mariappan Durai by Indra Pandey and Balachandar Subramanian 10-8 in the super tie-break.
In the women’s final, top seed KP Shilpa beat Prathima Rao in straight sets, albeit after a tussle.
The singles champions were presented Rs.12,500 each, and the runners-up Rs.8,400. The doubles champions received Rs.6,200.
The president of AITA, Dr. Anil Jain and the president of DLTA, Rohit Rajpal, presented the prizes.
The results (finals):
Men: Karthik Karunakaran bt Shekar Veeraswamy 6-1, 7-5.
Doubles: Indra Pandey & Balachandar Subramanian bt Mariappan Durai & Karthik Karunakaran 2-6, 7-5, [10-8].
Women: KP Shilpa bt Prathima Rao 6-4, 6-3.
= = = EOM
