Ruthless Ankush books final berth

Riding high on his superb serve and strong for-hand,top seed Ankush Arora of Punjab stormed into the finals in the boys’ U-14 category with a 6-2,6-0 win over Sachit Malhotra of Chandigarh in the British Total Tennis AITA Talent Series Tournament being played at The British School,Mohali on Thursday. It was easy going for the Punjab youngster as he wrapped up things in just 40 minutes and advanced into the final. Arora claimed the first set with a 6-2 margin before claiming the second set with a margin of 6-0 to set up a clash with Tegbir Singh in the final. In the other semi-final encounter,Tegbir Singh ended the challenge of Josh Bhasin with a 6-3,6-4 win. It was a narrow encounter as both the players played some fine tennis for one hour and 20 minutes but in the end,it was Hara who prevailed over Bhasin. The first set was a close affair with the both the players tied at 3-3 at one stage of the first set before Singh claimed the first set with a 6-3 margin. In the second set also,both the players were tied at 4-4 before Singh gathered momentum and claimed the second set to set up a summit clash with Arora.

In the boys’ U-12 category,Sabrang Sandal of Chandigarh showed the exit door to Punjab’s Robin Kapoor with a 6-0,6-3 win. Playing a controlled game,Singh claimed the first set with a 6-0 margin before claiming the second set with a 6-3 margin to advance into the final of the championship. In another semi-final encounter,Rohit Kumar ended the challenge of Parmeet Deol with a 6-0,7-6(7-4) win. Kumar claimed the first set with a 6-0 margin before claiming the second and final set with a 7-6 (7-4) margin. In the girls’ U-14 category,top seed Karishma Mehta outclassed Meenal Mahwal of Rajasthan with a 6-2,6-4 win to claim the title. Mehta claimed the first set with a 6-2 margin before claiming the second set with a 6-4 margin. In the girls’ U-12 final,Nimrat Walia of Chandigarh ended the challenge of Bani of Punjab with a one-sided 6-0,6-2 win. Walia claimed the first set with a 6-0 margin before claiming the second set with a 6-2 margin to claim the title.

Results:

Boys: Singles : Semi-finals : U-14 : Ankush Arora (Pb) bt Sachit Malhotra (Chd) 6-2 ,6-0; Tegbir Hara (Pb) bt Josh Bhasin (Chd) 6-3 ,6-4; U-12 : Sabrang Sandal (Chd) bt Robin Kapoor (Pb) 6-0 ,6-3; Rohit Kumar (Chd) bt Parmeet Deol (Chd) 6-0 ,7-6(7-4); Girls : Final : U-14 : Karshima Mehta (Chd) bt Meenal Mahwal(Raj) 6-2,6-4; U-12 : final : Nimral Walia (Chd) beat Bani (Pb) 6-0 ,6-2 .