Tennis
Qualifier Lokesh Rahul and top seed Savitha Bhuvaneswar reign supreme at AITA tourney
Qualifier Lokesh Rahul of Telangana ran a brilliant campaign to emerge champion in the Boys’ Under-18 category of the AITA National Series Junior Circuit at the Sania Mirza Tennis Academy in Hyderabad.
Lokesh Rahul came through unscathed against Karnataka’s Yash Kumar in straight sets. The Telangana lad eased to a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory to lay his hands on the coveted trophy.
In the girls’ category, the form book was followed as top seed Savitha Bhuvaneswar of Tamil Nadu was an easy winner over statemate Deepthi Venkatesan 6-3, 6-1.
Rahul eases past Lakshya
With most of the seeds vanishing by the quarterfinal stage, Andhra Pradesh’s seventh seed Chukka Lakshya was the highest ranked seed left in the semifinals. Lakshya stamped his authority in the first set against Lokesh Rahul as the Andhra player cruised to a 6-0 win. However, Rahul was in no mood to give in. The Telangana player pulled up his socks to turn the tables on his fancied opponent.
Rahul won the closely-contest second set 6-4 and took the game into the decider. In the third and final set, Rahul upped the ante and demolished Lakshya’s game. Rahul came up trumps at 6-2 to book his final berth.
In the other semifinal, unseeded Yash Kumar packed off the remaining seed, 13th seed Sarthak AS Gaikwad of Maharashtra in another three-set thriller. The first set was a thriller with both players dishing out their best performance, but Yash managed to edge Sarthak and win the set at 7-5.
However, Sarthak did not throw in the towel and plotted his way back into the contest. The Maharashtrian got the much-needed break as he won the set at 6-4. In the decider, Yash turned the tables on his opponent and took it 6-4 to march into the final.
Top seed Raghav Sarode of Maharashtra had met his match in Lakshya Chukka in the quarterfinals. The Andhra Pradesh lad pulled off a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win.
Sarthak Gaikwad had accounted for second seed Nithik Sivakumar of Tamil Nadu 6-4, 6-1.
Savitha proves handful for Deepthi
The girls’ singles final was quite uneventful as Savitha brooked no challenge on her way to the title. Deepthi failed to put up a decent fight and caved to a straight set loss.
Savitha Bhuvaneswar with Imran Mirza, father of tennis ace Sania Mirza
Unseeded Deepthi had, however, eased past 16th seed Anjhalle Meka of Telangana in a 6-4, 7-5 win in the last four. Savitha had defeated third seed Harsha Oruganti of Andhra Pradesh 6-2, 6-2.
Anjhalle Meka had accounted for second seed and statemate Syleswari Velmanikanda in the quarterfinals. Anjhalle proved quite a handful for her opponent as she romped to a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Deepthi, on the other hand, had defeated 13th seed Zoha Qureshi of Telangana 6-3, 7-5. The Telangana youngster had put up a big fight in the second set but was unable to get past Deepthi. Savitha and Harsha had quite easy outings in the last eight.
Results: Boys’ singles final: Lokesh Rahul (TS) beat Yash Kumar (Kar) 6-3, 6-4. Semifinals: Lokesh Rahul beat 7-Lakshya VA Chukka (AP) 0-6, 6-4, 6-2; Yash Kumar beat 13-Sarthak AS Gaikwad (Mah) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Quarterfinals: Lokesh Rahul beat Chandra Kopparapu (TS) 6-3, 7-5; Lakshya VA Chukka (AP) beat 1-Raghav Sarode (Mah) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1; Yash Kumar beat Mahesh Rhunmaan (Kar) 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4; Sarthak AS Gaikwad beat 2-Nithik Sivakumar (TN) 6-4, 6-1.
Girls’ singles (final): 1-Savitha Bhuvaneswar (TN) beat Deepthi Venkatesan (TN) 6-3, 6-1. Semifinals: Savitha Bhuvaneswar beat 3-Harsha Oruganti (AP) 6-2, 6-2; Deepthi Venkatesan beat 16-Anjhalle Meka (TS) 6-4, 7-5. Quarterfinals: Savitha Bhuvaneswar beat Keerthana Rangineni (TS) 6-0, 6-1; Harsha Oruganti beat Disha Kumar (Kar) 6-4, 6-0; Deepthi Venkatesan beat 13-Zoha Qureshi (TS) 6-3, 7-5; Anjhalle Meka beat 2-Syleswari Velmanikanda (TS) 6-3, 6-3.