The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sudanwa, Asvarya clinch titles

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Friday, Aug 12, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Sudanwa, Asvarya clinch titles

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: : Sudanwa Sitaram triumphed at the Krishnan Tennis Courts on Thursday. He also learnt to spot and drill holes in his opponent's weaker flank.

With the scores 3-3 in the decider, Tamil Nadu's Sudanwa, seeded second, fed Venkat Iyer, a wild card from Delhi, on his forehand, and also discovered the path to victory.

His 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory in the India Pistons-KTC-AITA junior (under-14) Super Series tennis tournament was his fourth win in eight final appearances this year.

In a contest where both players preferred to slug it out from the baseline, Sudanwa's game was tighter, although, the lanky Venkat's often furious double-handed back-hand fetched him several points.

Sudanwa, a Coimbatore lad, had an opportunity to close out the final in the second set, but a few stinging returns and some well-directed backhands from Venkat found their mark as the Delhi boy levelled the scores.

It was all Sudanwa after the midway point in the third set, and Venkat may have erred in not travelling to the net more often, forcing his opponent to change his gameplan.

Maharashtra's second seeded Asvarya Shrivatsava faced defeat when compatriot Prachi Nadkarni, the top-seed, served for the match at 5-4 in the decider after the two baseline counter-punchers had split the first two sets, 6-4, 4-6.

Asvarya was positive in adversity while Prachi's confidence dipped. After drawing level at 5-5, Asvarya broke Prachi in the 12th game to seal a hard earned win.

Gautam Venkataramani, vice-president, marketing, IT Systems, India Pistons Limited, was the chief guest.

Tennis great Ramanathan Krishnan and former India Davis Cup captain Ramesh Krishnan were also present on the occasion.

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