Sport - Tennis   

Preethi puts out Pooja

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI Sept. 22. Preethi Subramaniam banked on athleticism and deception to hammer home her point for more opportunities.

The unseeded Coimbatore girl, remembering tennis lessons from karateka father Subramaniam, washed away fourth seed Pooja Kommireddi's hopes on a rain-affected day at the International Tennis Federation's junior tournament, organised by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, winning 6-1, 6-4. For a 16-year-old competing in the under-18 age group, the scoreline suggests her best is yet to come.

A karateka herself, Preethi relied on first serves over lung-power to dominate the first round match, calling the shots in the first set before little bit of relaxation forced her to work harder in the second. At no stage was she in danger and a break at 4-3 was enough to put her on track.

"I like to be in charge, so concentrated on getting my serves in and keeping her on the move. The second set was tougher, level at 3-3 before a vital break in the seventh helped,'' said the student of Stanes HSS, looking forward to more competition.

The performance of doubles partner Sandri Gangotri on an adjacent court made her day more worthwhile, the unseeded Hyderabad player sending out fifth seed Nidhi Shah via the short route.

Parija Maloo defeated seventh seed Asha Nandakumar for the third surprise of the day, while qualifier Afreen Jahan extended her presence in the main draw by getting to the second round.

The seedings:

Boys: 1. Tushar Liberhan, 2. Rupesh Roy, 3. Navdeep Singh, 4. Abhay Prakash, 5. Siddharth Patil, 6. Saurabh Kohli, 7. Jeevan Neduncheziyan, 8. Sidharth Gulati.

Girls: 1. Kartiki Bhat, 2. Madura Ranganathan, 3. Vandana Murali, 4. Pooja Kommireddi, 5. Nidhi Shah, 6. Parul Goswami, 7. Asha Nandakumar, 8. Ashmitha E.

The results (Indians unless specified):

Girls singles (first round): Neena Sharma bt Meghana Paritala 6-4, 6-3; Jahan Afreen bt Shivika Burman 6-1, 6-2; Sandri Gangotri bt 5-Nidhi Shah 6-4, 6-4; Preethi Subramaniam bt 4-Pooja Kommireddi 6-1, 6-4; Shraddha Lodha bt Sharanya Pattabi 6-1, 6-3; Tejaswini Datla bt Varsha Shivshankar 6-2, 1-6, 7-5; Parija Maloo bt 7-Asha Nandakumar 2-6, 6-4, 6-1; Sagarika Phadke bt Daksha Mulay; Poonam Reddy bt Kanisha Mehta 6-0, 6-3.

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