The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Gokul, Sindura triumph

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Friday, Jun 17, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Gokul, Sindura triumph

Special Correspondent

GUNTUR: R. Gokul and Pudota Sindura clinched the boys and girls under-14 crowns of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) Talent Series tennis tournament, which concluded at the Brahamananda Reddy Stadium courts here on Thursday. In the final, Gokul got the better of Bharadwaj Acharya 6-3, 6-3, while Sindura defeated Gutta Sushma 6-0, 6-3.

It was a golden double for Sindura, who earlier in the day, paired up with Yashika Reddy to beat Neha Purohit and Nayantara 6-4, 7-5. Under 12 winner Mohith Mayur combined with Sharan S. Patil to take the boys under 14 doubles title, overcoming Alla Srikar and Y. Sriman 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4.

With a no-frills game that was high on backlift, Gokul ensured almost all his strokes were directed with precision. Playing with his standbye racquet that had a string missing, Gokul's backhand, especially on the volleys, worked as his most effective weapon.

Acharya on the other hand had some fine flat and cross-court returns that fetched him points early. Invariably the first to attack, he broke Gokul early in each set but failed to sustain his tempo. The Hyderabad Public School student had difficulty in court coverage, which Gokul exploited.

On the home straight, in the concluding three games of either set, Gokul broke Acharya and held his serve to come up trumps. Groomed by his father Vijay Vardhan Rao, a coach working on contract basis for the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh at Khammam, Gokul kept his cool on the crucial points, on one occasion leaping to his left to retrieve a low volley. At an earlier AITA tournament at Giddalur, Gokul reached the under 18 semifinals and claimed the doubles laurels with K. Koti of Visakhapatnam.

Sindura, a class IX student of Vidyaranya High School, Hyderabad, ensured her opponent Sushma made the errors, the former picking up the first set in facile fashion, 6-0. Some laxity set into her game in the second set initially and Sushma wrested three games in quick time. That's when Sindura decided enough was enough and pumped up her pace to clinch her maiden singles title.

The results (all finals):

Boys under-14: Singles: R. Gokul (AP) bt Bharadwaj Acharya (AP) 6-3, 6-3. Doubles: Mohith Mayur (TN)/Sharan S. Patil (Kar) bt Alla Srikar/Y. Sriman (AP) 6-2, 6-7(4-7), 6-4.

Girls: Singles: Pudota Sindura (AP) bt Gutta Sushma (AP) 6-0, 6-3. Doubles: Yashika Reddy/P. Sindura bt Neha Purohit/Nayantara (AP) 6-4, 7-5.

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