Tags:
Journalism of Courage
CHANDIGARH, May 20: The sweltering summer heat did not stop Shruti Dhawan of Delhi from entering into the under-16 girls final at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA), courts here today. Shruti, a trainee of DHATIA and seeded No.1 in the tournament, however, had to overwhelm Rani Smitha Jain of Rajastan 6-4, 7-5 to remain in contention for the title.
Shruti never expected the kind of opposition she had to face in the semifinal today from third seeded Rani Simtha Jain, who was raring to go the full distance. But in the end, it was Shruti’s experience which enabled her to prevail over her rival.
The Rajasthan player, with her baseline shots kept her opponent on the toes throughout the encounter. However, she double faulted twice, when Shruti was 5-3 up in the first set and failed to return a volley, to give the top seed the vital point.
On the other hand, Shruti, with her deep and deceptive cross shots gave tough time to Rani Simtha, who had to rely on her reserve in the second set.
In the other semifinal, fourth seeded Isha Chopra of Haryana upset second seed Harsimran Kaur of Chandigarh 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 to become the other finalist.
Harsimran, who is playing competitive tennis after a lay-off, made a come back by winning the set (5-7) in the match today but lost her concentration in the third set and the contest too.
The under-14 girls finals will be a family affair with Delhi’s Bhambri sister’s — Ankita and Sanaa — winning their semifinal encounters with grace.
Top seed Ankita outplayed her statemate Monika Goel 6-2, 6-2, who was more taller and powerful than her while second seed Sanaa, who is barely inches above the net beat Naina Karsolia of Uttar Pradesh 6-1, 6-4.
Sunil Kumar of Chandigarh made it into the last four stage of the boys under-16 category. Third seed, Sunil overcame Riaz Ahmed of Delhi 6-1 7-6 (7).
Another Chandigarh lad, Amanjot Singh defeated Tushar Liberhan 6-2, 6-0, to book a passage in the last four in the under-14 group.
Results: Boys: Under-14 (quarterfinals): NV Murli (Dli) bt Anoop Anand (Chd) 7-5, 6-0; S Abhinav (Dli) bt Narul Yadav (Dli) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Nishank Mishra (Dli) bt Nipun Gupta (Dli) 6-3, 6-3; Amanjot Singh (Chd) bt Tushar Liberhan (Chd) 6-2, 6-0.
Under-16 (quarterfinals): P Vishal (Dli) bt Sukhamrit Lakhat (Chd) 6-4, 6-2; Parantap Chaturvedi (Dli) bt CS Mohanty (Dli) 6-3, 7-6 (5); Sunil Kumar (Chd) bt Riaz Ahmed (Dli) 6-1, 7-6 (7); Ashutosh (Dli) bt Shivang Mishra (Dli) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.
Girls: Under-14 (semifinals): Ankita Bhambri (Dli) bt Monika Goel (Dli) 6-2, 6-2; Sanaa Bhambri (Dli) bt Naina Karsolia (UP) 6-1, 6-4.
Under-16 (semifinals): Shruti Dhawan (Dli) bt Rani Simtha Jain (Raj) 6-4, 7-5; Isha Chopra (Har) bt Harsimran Kaur (Chd) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.
