Bhatia nicks title in thriller

Bhatia,who had earlier defeated Verma in the Practennis semi-finals,dropped the opening set as a determined Verma forced the favourite to grind for every point. The top seed then came back into the match and snatched the second set with crucial breaks.

It was no easy ride in a riveting decider as Verma drew level at 3-3. That is after he trailed 0-2 at one stage. He then overcame a 3-5 deficit that included a crucial break after five deuces in a nail-biting ninth game to get himself back into contention.

A slew of errors on serve by Verma gave Bhatia a 40-15 advantage in the 12th game and though Verma made it 30-40 he slammed a return into the net that offered Bhatia the break and match that lasted a gruelling two hours.

Top seeds Heman Nama of Karnataka and Mahak Jain of Avlon Heights,Vashi won the under-12 boys’ and girls’ titles,respectively,while third seed Sharanya Gaware of Symbiosis,Pune won the girls’ under-10 crown.

Results (Finals):Boys’ U-12: 1-Heman Nama (Kar) bt 6-Gunjan Jadhav (Mah) 6-4,6-3; Boys’ U-10: 1-Aryaan Bhatia (Mah) bt 8-Rahul Verma (Mah) 3-6,6-4,7-5; Boys’ U-8: 1-Nishant Dewalkar bt Joshua Eapan 6-1; Girls’ U-12: 1-Mahak Jain (Mah) bt 2-Sanjeevani Patil (Mah) 6-4,6-2; Girls’ U-10: 3-Sharanya Gaware (Mah) bt 7-Gauri Bhagia (Mah) 4-0,4-1; Girls’ U-8: 1-Kundali Majgaine bt 2-Shamita Pandit 6-1.

Don Bosco miss out on final berth

Don Bosco,the city’s football superpowers,failed to book their place in the final of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge,after they failed to win all three points in their concluding league encounter-a must-win contest—against Central Reseva Police Force High School from Delhi. Don Bosco were held to a 2-2 draw in the match held at the Bangalore Football Stadium in Bangalore on Monday.

Results:Central Reseva Police Force High School (Delhi) 2 (Mukesh Kumar,Abhishek Yadav) drew with Don Bosco High School (Mumbai) 2 ( Vikrant Belwalkar 2).