The Hindu : Sport : Purav is champion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 15, 2006
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Sport

Purav is champion

Special Correspondent

GUTSY WIN: Isha Lakhani overcame an indifferent start to beat Sandhya Nagraj for the women's title. — Photo: V.V. Krishnan

NEW DELHI: Purav Raja proved the pundits wrong and clinched the men's title with a 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-3 victory over Vishnu Vardhan in the final of the DSCL National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex here on Saturday.

In a battle of wits that lasted three hours and 54 minutes, the 20-year-old Purav revealed craft and commendable reserves of energy in winning his maiden national title.

Once he turned the match around in the second set tie-break, Purav called the shots even as Vishnu attacked aimlessly and lost the plot.

Quite surprisingly, it was Purav who was moving well till the end, pouncing on every opportunity, while Vishnu looked like a puppet, dancing to his opponent's tunes.

Notably, Vishnu dropped serve early in the second, third and fourth sets, that saw him struggle to catch up. At the crunch, he was unable to goad himself to his best, for lack of confidence rather than anything else.

There was a semblance of a revival for Vishnu when he fired two aces to hold serve in the eighth game of the fourth set. However, Purav set up a matchpoint with a forehand winner, but buried a sitter into the net. He set up a second matchpoint following a questionable over-rule by the chair umpire, and grabbed the chance as he unleashed a backhand passing shot down the line to emerge triumphant.

"It is great to win the national title. I just refused to lose,'' said Purav.

Isha rallies

In the women's final, Isha Lakhani bounced back from an indifferent start, to defend the title. Sandhya Nagaraj was erratic and seemed to lack concentration.

"It is important to win the national championship and I am glad to have won it again. I am looking forward to competing in more international tournaments,'' said Isha.

Sriram Balaji bounced back from a poor start when he failed to win a game in the first set, to eventually outplay Fariz Mohammad, in the under-18 boys' final.

Kyra Shroff celebrated her 14th birthday in style by winning the under-18 title, beating her doubles partner Kelsey Sundaram.

"I am happy to have fought well from 2-5 in the first set. I didn't expect to win the under-18 title. I am playing defensive and need to be more aggressive,'' said Kyra.

The results (finals): Men: Purav Raja bt Vishnu Vardhan 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-3; Women: Isha Lakhani bt Sandhya Nagaraj 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Boys: Sriram Balaji bt Fariz Mohammad 0-6, 6-4, 6-0; Girls: Kyra Shroff bt Kelsey Sundaram 7-5, 6-4.