Tejeshwar is under-16 champion

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MAY 6. The top seed, Tejeshwar Chigateri overcame a spasm of self doubt at the outset to carve out a memorable 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 title triumph over the second seed, V.Vignesh of Andhra Pradesh in the boys' under-16 singles event of the Embassy AITA sub-junior ranking tennis championship at the Sadhashivanagar Club court here today.

Tejeshwar's sparkling win was followed by Sharanya Pattabhi's long drawn out victory over her Tamil Nadu team-mate, S.Preethi at 6-0, 5-7, 7-5 in the girls' under-14 singles final.

In what was easily the best contest of the day, Tejeshwar and his rival Vignesh, traded some great shots and played at a good pace. Vignesh, an attacking player, did impress in the first set but the match was tilted in Tejeshwar's way in a tie-breaker finish.

Tejeshwar, who by then found his rhythm, went for his strokes, while Vignesh ran low on motivation and slid to defeat with unforced errors in the second set.

The two traded breaks in the first set till 4-all, before clinging to their serves to send the set into a tie- breaker. It was again a tight script in the tie-breaker till 6- all when a good return of serve and then a mishit by his rival saw Tejeshwar scamper to a 7-6 (8-6) win.

In the second set, Vignesh ran into a trouble with his serve in the second set while Tejeshwar raised his game by a couple of notches. He volleyed with power and sent some delectable winners, on his backhand hitting the ball on the rise. Tejeshwar broke Vignesh in the third game, which was nullified by Vignesh who cracked in the sixth game. But Tejeshwar despite that reverse, stepped up the pace and forced yet another break in the ninth game to grab a 5-4 lead. All he had to do at that stage was play cool and hold his serve and he did that in style to wrap up the match and title.

An overcast sky and claps of thunder provided the backdrop for the girls' under-14 singles final between Sharanya Pattabhi and S.Preethi. But there was no fireworks on the court as the tie seemed to drag without an end.

Sharanya, though triumphant at the end, inflicted agony on herself and the sparse crowd as she prolonged a match which was virtually in her bag. She romped through the first set 6-0 and led 5-3 in the second and then serving for the match, she squandered away her chances of quick kill, with a series of poor shots.

After half a dozen deuces, Preethi broke her rival to get back into the match in the ninth game and went on to take the set at 7-5. In the decider, as a slight drizzle set in, Preethi blew a 2-0 and later a 5-3 lead, enabling Sharanya to get a hold on herself and the tie. Sharanya, leveling at 5-all, went on to take the match and title with a break in the 12th game (7-5).

The girls' under-16 singles final on Sunday will be an all-Tamil Nadu contest as the top seed, Preethi Rao will meet the second seed Alice Joy. In the semifinals, Preethi made a short work of Sharanya Pattabhi 6-2, 6-4, while Alice Joy beat M.Kamini 6-4, 7- 6 (7-5).

In the State-ranking events, Tamil Nadu youngsters Jeevan Nedunchezhian and M.Kamini did well to claim the boys' under-12 singles and girls' under-18 singles titles respectively. Jeevan defeated the local hope, Kaushik S.Raju 6-3, 6-4, while Kamini beat Iciri Rai of Karnataka 6-3, 6-4.

Earlier, Iciri, sprang a surprise by beating the top seed, Preethi Rao of Tamil Nadu 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals.

The results:

AITA events:

Boys under-16 singles: Tejeshwar Chigateri (Kar) bt V.Vignesh (AP) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Girls under-14 singles final: Sharanya Pattabhi (TN) bt S.Preethi (TN) 6-0, 5-7, 7-5.

Girls under-16 singles (semifinals): Preethi Rao (TN) bt Sharanya Pattabhi (TN) 6-2, 6-4; Alice Joy (TN) bt M.Kamini (TN) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

State ranking events:

Boys under-18 singles (semifinals): Sushanth Bihani bt Siddarth Sudhakar 6-3, 6-2; Siddarth Sharma bt Abhay Prakash 6-2, 6-3.

Boys under-12 singles final: Jeevan Nedunchezhian (TN) bt Kaushik S.Raju (Kar) 6-2, 6-4.

Girls under-18 singles final: M.Kamini (TN) bt Iciri Rai (Kar) 7- 6 (7-5), 6-3. Semifinals: Iciri Rai bt Preethi Rao (TN) 6-3, 6-3; M.Kamini bt Radha Devendrappa (Kar) 6- 1, 6-4.

Girls under-12 singles (semifinals): Poojashree bt Meghana 6-3, 6-2; Ashmita bt Swetha 2-6, 7- 5, 6-3.

Children under-10 singles (semifinals): Poojashree bt Vedant Bansal 9-3; Shriram Balaji (TN) bt Utkasrsh Patel (Guj) 9-8 (13- 11).

Tejeshwar Chigateri of Karnataka, the winner of the boys' under- 16 singles title in the Embassy AITA sub-junior ranking tennis championship in Bangalore on Saturday.

Sharanya Pattabhi of Tamil Nadu, who won the girls' under-14 singles title.

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