The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Kashyap and Dhruthi triumph

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Saturday, Oct 28, 2006
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Kashyap and Dhruthi triumph

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: It was a hard-earned title triumph for A. Kashyap and Dhruthi who emerged as the boys' and girls' singles champions respectively in the Kensri-AITA under-12 championship which concluded at the Kensri courts here on Friday.

In the two engrossing finals, played under an overcast sky and with intermittent drizzle, Kashyap outslugged a determined S. Siddarth Reddy of Chennai in a baseline duel lasting two hours at 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 while in the girls' final, Dhruthi prevailed over Preethi Ujjani at 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3.

Kashyap and Siddarth both depended heavily on their groundstrokes. But as the rallies grew longer, Siddarth was more prone to errors as he tried to rush the pace.

Siddarth took the first set with a break in the fourth game but Kashyap hit back in the second set and cracked his rival in the second game and forged to a 3-0 lead from which he never looked back.

In the decider, showing a lot more consistency and focus, the Bangalore lad broke his rival in the sixth game, before dropping his serve in the seventh. But, Kashyap, however sealed it up in the tenth game with some sweetly-timed forehand winners.

The nine-year old Dhruthi, a ward of coach Raghuram of Mysore, showed a lot of grit as she humbled her older rival, Preethi Ujjani in a well-contested match.

Dhruthi, began on a shaky note, dropping the first set with a spate of unforced errors, but she came back in the second set and served better and kept her returns consistently in. With both the girls holding on to their serves till six-all, the set spilled into a tie-breaker and Dhruthi won that in a canter.

In the decider, which was marked by some good rallies, Dhruthi took the set and match with a decisive break in the 10th game, sealing it with a forehand volley.

The results (finals):

Boys: A. Kashyap (Kar) bt S.Siddarth Reddy (TN) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Girls: Dhruthi (Kar) bt Preethi Ujjani (Kar) 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

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