The second-seeded players, Udit Gogoi of Assam and Prerna Vichare of Maharashtra, both tumbled out in the penultimate rounds, losing to Haryana’s fourth seed Divesh Gahlot and Maharashtra’s Sudipta Senthil Kumar respectively in of the boys’ and girls’ singles events of the MSLTA – Yonex Sunrise 12th Ramesh Desai Memorial CCI All India Nationals Under-16 Tennis Tournament 2018.
( L to R) Boys doubles’ winners Uddayvir Singh of Chandigarh and Dhruv Tangri of Punjab; Chetan Desai, son of Ramesh Desai, Kishan Shah, Tournament Director; Girl’s doubles winners Sandeepti Rao of Haryana and Vanshika Choudhary (U.P.), after finals of the MSLTA – CCI All India Nationals Under-16 Tennis Tournament
The lad from Haryana, Divesh, ranked number seventh, two places below his Assam opponent Udit, on the AITA ranking list, fought with grit and determination as he recovered after losing the opening set. Later he did well to punish the erratic Udit by winning the next two to sets come out trumps, by a 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5) scoreline, at the Cricket Club of India tennis courts, Churchgate on Friday morning.
In contrast, Sudipta, ranked 18 on the AITA list was dominant from the start against the third rank Prerna and she hardly put a foot wrong and without dropping a game, she won the first set. With Prerna unable to offer much of resistance, Sudipta conceded just two games in the second as she quickly closed out the match, crusing to 6-0, 6-2 victory and set up a summit clash with Sandeepti Rao of Haryana.
Sandeepti quelled a spirited challenge for qualifier Vipasha Mehra in two closely contested sets. Ranked 63rd on the AITA ranking list, the Pune-based Vipasha, who had defeated eighth seed Gargi Pawar and fourth seed Sanya Singh in the previous rounds, made Sandeepti work hard for her points. Both player slugged it out from the baseline, but the 17th ranked Sandeepti cleverly kept the ball in play and waited for her rival to make the errors which she capitalized on and went on to clinch a deserving 7-6(3), 7-6(5) success and a shot at the title.
In the other boys’ singles semi-final match, third seed Sushant Dabas of Haryana tamed unseeded Mohit Bondre of Gujarat in straight sets, winning at 6-2, 7-5.
Later in the evening, Sandeepti combined perfectly with Vanshika Choudhary of Uttar Pradesh to win the girls’ doubles crown. They defeated the Maharashtra pair of Richa Chougule and Prerna Vichare 6-3, 6-3 to claim the top honours.
In the boys’ doubles final, Uddayvir Singh of Chandigarh and Dhruv Tangri of Punjab overcame the Haryana doubles combination of Sushant Dabas and Divesh Gahlot winning at 6-3, 3-6, 10-8.
Results – Girls’ singles (semi-finals): Sandeepti Rao (HR) bt Q-Vipasha Mehra (MH) 7-6(3), 7-6(5); Sudipta Senthil Kumar (MH) bt 2-Prerna Vichare (MH) 6-0, 6-2.
Boys’ singles (semi-finals): 3-Sushant Dabas (HR) bt Mohit Bondre (GJ) 6-2, 7-5; 4-Divesh Gahlot (HR) bt 2-Udit Gogoi (AS) 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(5).
Girls’ doubles (finals): Sandeepti Rao (HR)/ Vanshika Choudhary (UP) bt Richa Chougule (MH)/Prerna Vichare 6-3, 6-3.
Boys’ doubles (finals): Uddayvir Singh (CH)/Dhruv Tangri (PB) bt Sushant Dabas/Divesh Gahlot 6-3, 3-6, 10-8.