Manish Sureshkumar counter punched to outwit Dhruv Sunish 6-3, 6-3 in the men’s under-21 final of tennis in the Khelo India Youth Games at the Balewadi Sports Complex on Saturday.
Dhruv started well and took a 3-1 lead, unleashing winners at will, but he could not sustain such high quality play for long. The 19-year-old Manish, one of the bright prospects who has been beating some of the best players in the country, won seven games on the trot to turn the match around on its head.
The wiry Manish, coached by Sureshkumar Sonachalam in Chennai, did drop serve in the third game of the second set, but broke Dhruv’s serve at love in the eighth game before serving the match out.
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“I expected a good fight as Dhruv has beaten Sasi Kumar Mukund in the international circuit. I knew that he was capable of playing high quality tennis. I was happy with the way I played and knew that I would get back into the match’’, said Manish.
Suggesting that he did not have to face big serves as in the Challengers, Manish hoped that the gold would fetch him support.
“They may give scholarship. Most of the players struggle with the financial aspect. It is good to be in the government system through such a fine initiative,’’ said the B.Com student of Loyola College, who expects to get a wild card for the Challenger in Chennai.
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In the under-17 girls final, Prerna Vichare countered the fighting left-hander Priyanshi Bhandari for a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 victory after an entertaining duel, to boost the gold medal haul for host Maharashtra.
She had earlier won the doubles title with Gargi Pawar.
Zeel Desai had the consolation of winning the women’s under-21 doubles gold in partnership with Vaidehi Chaudhari, after having been restricted to the bronze in singles.
Doubles gold
Dev Javia added the under-17 men’s doubles gold in partnership with Krish Patel, for Gujarat, after having won the singles title earlier. The doubles gold came after a hard fight with a 13-11 victory in the super tie-break against Sushant Dabas and Diviesh Gahlot.
Maharashtra topped the tennis medals table with three gold, four silver and a bronze, ahead of Gujarat which won three gold, a silver and two bronze. Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh were the other teams to win gold, while West Bengal, Telangana and Haryana managed to win a silver and a bronze each.
The results (finals):
Men: Under-21: Manish Sureshkumar bt Dhruv Sunish 6-3, 6-3.
Under-17: Doubles: Dev Javia & Krish Patel bt Sushant Dabas & Divesh Gahlot 6-3, 2-6, [13-11].
Women: Under-21: Doubles: Vaidehi Chaudhari & Zeel Desai bt Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty & Humera Shaik 6-3, 6-2.
Under-17: Prerna Vichare bt Priyanshi Bhandari 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 .