Joy for Alice and Ashmitha

MYSORE, MAY 12. Top- seeded Alice Joy of Chennai and second seed E. Ashmitha of Coimbatore clinched the girls' under-16 and under- 12 titles in the third Karnataka State-ranking open tennis championship, conducted by the Mysore Tennis Club under the auspices of the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, here on Friday.

Alice, a product of the Triangle Tennis Trust, was confidence- personified against Tumkur Club's N. Akshatha and won in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in a match which lasted for an hour.

Alice, who impressed with her forehand strokes and fine placements, broke Akshatha in the first, third and fifth games to take the first set at 6-4 in 35 minutes. Akshatha served too many double faults at crucial junctures to surrender the initiative she gained by breaking Alice's serve twice in this set.

In the second, both players had breaks of serves and were level at 2-2, but Alice emphasised her superiority and broke her rival's serve in the fifth and seventh games to take the set and match at 6-2.

In the girls' under-12 final, Ashmitha strolled past fourth- seeded V. Poojashree 6-2, 6-4. Poojashree is a product of the R. Nagaraj Tennis Clinic in Mysore. Ashmitha, who won her second under-12 title in a row, played strongly from the baseline. She broke her opponent's serve in the sixth and eighth games to win the first set 6-2. And in the second, she had breaks in the eighth and 10th games to clinch the set and title at 6-4.

On a day of upsets in the men's singles, sixth-seeded medical student G. Bharatraj of Mysore upset second-seeded Siddarth Sharma of Bangalore in straight sets 6-1, 6-0 to sail into the last four stage. Bharatraj gave his rival very few chances and excelled with his serve and volley game. Siddarth conceded too many unforced errors and lost control of the match.

The top seed Jaidev Punjabi, of KSLTA, Bangalore, came back strongly after losing the first set at 5-7 to win the next two at 6-4 and 6-2 against seventh-seeded K. Prabhanjan (Mysore) to enter the semifinals.

Another KSLTA product also booked a semifinal berth. Fifth seed Sushanth Bihani shocked third-seeded Siddarth Sudhakar of Bangalore 6-0, 5-7, 6-0. Mysore's R. Nagaraj, seeded eighth, quelled the challenge of fourth-seeded Amogha Shivram of Bangalore in two absorbing sets 6-3, 6-3 to enter the semifinals.

Prateek in summit clash

Top-seeded S. Prateek, an eighth standard student of Vidhya Vardaka High School, Mysore, stormed into the final of the boys' under-14 section warding off a determined effort by fourth-seeded Sudhir K. Mohan (Bangalore) in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.

In the other semifinal which ended on a controversial note, the second seed Manu Bajpai of Bangalore was awarded the match against local lad and third seed R.K. Praveen. The tournament committee upheld the protest on a crucial line-call when he was up one set 6-2 and was serving for the match in the second at 5- 2. In the boys' under-14 quarterfinals, top-seeded G. Arjun, a product of the Mahila Seva Samaja, Bangalore, recorded an easy win over seventh-seeded S. Prasanth (Mysore) 6-0, 6-3 to book a semifinal slot.

The other seeds - Anirudh Tammanna (third seed), S.G. Adarsh (fourth seed) and unseeded Sudhir K. Mohan (Bangalore) - also made the semifinals.

In the boys' under-12 singles semifinals, local lad R.K. Praveen, belonging to the R. Nagaraj Tennis Clinic, Mysore, crushed teammate L. Bharat 6-0, 6-0. Praveen meets M. Fariz of Chennai in the final on Saturday.

In men's doubles, top-seeded Siddarth Sharma and Siddarth Sudhakar eased past R.N. Ramesh and Y.B. Adarsh 6-2, 6-1 to enter the semifinals while the second-seeded pair of Jaidev Punjabi and Sushanth Bihani (Bangalore) beat Mysore's Harish Babu and K.N. Kiran 6-3, 6-1.

Top-seeded J. Shashikumar and S.G. Adarsh (Mysore) stormed into the boys' under-16 doubles finals recording a 7-5, 6-2 win over third-seeded Abdur Rehman and K.M. Sudheer.

The boys' under-12, under-14, under-16 finals along with the men's singles and doubles semifinals are slated for Saturday.

lThe results: Girls under-16 (final): Alice Joy (Chennai) bt N. Akshatha (Tumkur) 6-4, 6-2.

Girls under-12 (final): E. Ashmitha (CBE) bt V. Poojashree (Mys) 6-2, 6-4.

Boys under-14 (semifinals): S. Prateek (Mys) bt Sudhir K. Mohan (B'lore) 6-3, 6-1; Manu Bajpai (B'lore) bt R.K. Praveen (Mys) 6- 2, 5-2 (match awarded to Bajpai); Quarterfinals: Praveen bt T.J. Goutham (Tum) 6-0, 1-6, 6-1.

Boys under-12 (semifinals): R.K. Praveen (Mys) bt L. Bharat (Mys) 6-1, 6-0.

Men's singles (quarterfinals): Jaidev Punjabi (B'lore) bt K. Prabhanjan (Mys) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; R. Nagaraj (Mys) bt Amogha Shivram (B'lore) 6-3, 6-3.

Boys under-14 (quarterfinals): G. Arjun (B'lore) bt S. Prasanth (Mys) 6-0, 6-3; Anirudh Tammanna (B'lore) bt Shashikumar (Mys) 6- 0, 6-4; S.G. Adarsh (Mys) bt S. Prateek (Mys) 6-1, 7-6 (7-3); Sudhir K. Mohan (B'lore) bt Udhay Pawar (Mys) 6-1, 4-1 (concd.).

Men's doubles (quarterfinals): Jaidev Punjabi-Sushanth Behani (B'lore) bt Harish Babu-K.N. Kiran (Mys) 6-3, 6-1; Siddarth Sharma-Siddarth Sudhakar (B'lore) bt R.N. Ramesh-Y.B. Adarsh (Mys) 6-2, 6-1; K. Prabhanjan-M.R. Vijay (Mys) bt Dr. Sridhar- Arjun Ranga (Mys) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).

Boys under-16 doubles (semifinals): J. Shashikumar-S.G. Adarsh (Mys) bt Abdur Rehman-K.M. Sudheer (B'lore) 7-5, 6-2.

Veterans' doubles (semifinals): Dr. S.N. Moti-Dr. Tony (Mys) bt M.B. Vasudev/Dr. C.S. Krishnamurthy (Mys) 7-5, 6-4.

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