Vikrant retains title

PUNE, May 28: Vikrant Sane fulfilled one aim and is just a step way from realising the second one. Top seed in the under-14, the Pune lad...

PUNE, May 28: Vikrant Sane fulfilled one aim and is just a step way from realising the second one. Top seed in the under-14, the Pune lad bundled out an error prone second seed Saurabh Kohli 6-2, 6-0 in the Adidas junior nationals final, thus not only defending his title but also keeping his national top ranking intact in his last year of the age group.

Vikrant, however, knows that there is a bigger challenge waiting for him on the morrow, when the 10th standard V K Patil schoolboy will be up against Rohan Gajjar of Mumbai for the defense of the under-16 title as well. Looking at the way the third seed Vikrant today went about upsetting the apple cart of second seed Vivek Jhaveri of Mumbai 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in the semi-final at PYC Gymkhana, it is for sure that tomorrow8217;s final will be a treat to watch.

Vikrant took the early set 6-4 earning a break in the fifth game and was well on his way to pack off the second set leading 5-3 40-30 at one stage. Jhaveri, however, fought his way back into the match, winning the next five games in a row to take the set 7-5. But Jhaveri by now had exhausted his stamina and looked tired by the start of the decider, on which Vikrant capitalised, making his opponent run all around the court, winning it 6-1.

Meanwhile, it proved out to be a happy hunting for the Nagpur lass Lata Assudani. The second seed Lata, who had overcame Deepa Chakravarthy of Gujarat yesterday, displayed a remarkable game of tennis, defeating top seed Isha Lakhani of Mumbai 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 8-6 in the under-14 final.

Results Prefix denotes seedings
Adidas Jr
Boys
U-14 Final: 1. V Sane Pune bt 2. S Kohli Mumbai 6-2, 6-0.
U-16 S/F: 3. V Sane Mah bt 2. V Jhaveri Mah 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
Girls
U-14 Final: 2. L Assudani Mah bt 1. I Lakhani Mah 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 8-6.
U-16 S/F: 1. Megha Vakharia Mah bt 3. Riddhima Parekh WB 6-1, 6-4; 2. Isha Lakhani Mah bt 4. Ragini Vimal WB 6-3, 7-5.

State Ranking
Boys
U-10 Final: 1. Arnav Jain M8217;bai bt 2. Tejas Chaukulkar Pune 6-0, 6-3.
U-12 Final: 1. K Narsimhan M8217;bai bt 3. Hrishikesh Pataskar Pune 6-3, 6-3.
U-18 S/F: 2. A Tamhane Pune bt 1. K Shah 1-0 concede; 7. V Jhaveri M8217;bai bt J Fonseca Pune 7-5, 6-1.

Girls
U-10 Final: A Sinha M8217;bai bt A Bagul Pune 9-3.
U-12 Final: 1. Kartiki Bhatt Pune bt 2. Sagarika Phadke M8217;bai 6-1, 6-0.
U-18 Final: 1. Radhika Tulpule Pune bt 2. Sonal Phadke Pune 7-5, 6-1.