The Hindu : Sport : Aishwarya wins title

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Saturday, Sep 02, 2006

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Aishwarya wins title

Sports Reporter

COMING UP TRUMPS: Aishwarya Agarwal from Indore had an easy outing in the girls' title match. _ PHOTO: R. RAGU

Chennai: Aishwarya Agrawal clinched a blink-and-miss first set, survived a scare of minutest proportions in the beginning of the second, and eventually registered an easy win in the girls' final, in the IOB-GNC Asian under-14 tennis series, beating Sharon Paul 6-0, 6-3 on Friday.

The 13-year-old from Indore did almost everything right through most parts of the match. Playing a good all-round game, Aishwarya made very few errors, consistently keeping the ball in play and luring Sharon into committing errors.

The first set was virtually a no-show from Sharon's end, with Aishwarya's perfectly placed shots consistently whizzing past her. The second seed's tactic of mixing patience with aggression, and unearthing the variety at her disposal turned out to be a little too much for Sharon to handle.

She did show glimpses of what took her to the final during the initial stages of the second set when she continued being aggressive, but a little more accurate, taking a 2-0 lead. Aishwarya came back, winning the next three games, dropping the next, and scooping up the next three, to clinch the title.

Having won two titles in the Sri Lankan leg of the Asian under-14 series, the Chennai winner heads to Bangladesh next, for the subsequent legs.

The doubles finals stuck to the straight-sets script, as Jugal Marfatia and Sumeet Shinde breezed past N. Sai Karthik and S. Sidharth 6-2, 6-1 in the boys' final while the Shweta Rana and Ankita Raina duo prevailed over Aishwarya and Natalia Khanejo 6-2, 6-3 in the girls' final. Irfan Hussain and Natalia Khanejo won their respective third-place matches.

The results: Girls: Singles: Final: Aishwarya Agrawal bt Sharon.S.Paul 6-0, 6-3; For third place: Natalia Khanejo bt Yamini Reddy 9-6. Doubles: Final: Shweta Rana & Ankita Raina bt Aishwarya Agrawal & Natalia Khanejo 6-2, 6-3.

Boys: Singles: For third place: Irfan Hussain bt Rishabdev 9-8(7). Doubles: Final: Jugal Marfatia & Sumeet Shinde bt N. Sai Karthik & S. Sidharth 6-2, 6-1.

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