The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Thirani downs Preetam in thrilling final

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Saturday, Apr 28, 2007
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Thirani downs Preetam in thrilling final

CHAMPIONS: The winners (from left): Nimisha Mohan, Sharan Patil, Kashyap, Harshavardhan Thirani, Nikshep, Ravina Shetty and Spurti Shivalingaiah. — Photo: Sampath Kumar

BANGALORE: Harshavardhan Thirani of West Bengal had to sweat it out against a determined local challenger Preetam Roy Mores before sealing a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 title triumph in the boys' under-18 singles of the KIMS AITA Talent Series tennis championship which concluded at WIA Courts here on Friday.

In an absorbing final which lasted two hours, the third seed Harshavardhan, a trainee of former Indian coach, Akhtar Ali, overcame a bout of nerves and temper, to prevail over a steady slugging second seed Preetam.

He served strongly and hit his topspin with assurance, but Preetam, after a sluggish start, found his rhythm to hit back strongly in the tie. The Kolkata lad broke in the second game to lead 2-0, but almost lost the advantage when he was broken in the ninth game. However, Thirani broke immediately to seal the set.

The second set saw some good rallies, before Preetam with his consistent returns played on the nerves of his rival, who in a fit of pique, made unforced errors and dropped serve in the 12th game to lose the set.

The prolonged contest, which now spilled into a decider, began to take toll on Preetam. He dropped serve in the ninth to allow Harshavardhan to serve out the set and match.

"It was an off-season tournament for me and I had dropped quite a few points in the under-18 singles, hence I decided to play and win here," said Harshavardhan. Preetam rued the missed chances and also blamed the defeat on the change to a synthetic court for the final. "Up to the semifinals, we were playing on clay, a change-over, did slow me down," said the youngster from Tumkur, who just turned 18.

Second seed Nimisha Mohan claimed the girls' under-18 singles outclassing the top seed Rachita Sarda 6-1, 6-1 in 50 minutes. Rachita's penchant for hitting high balls, without going for any decisive winners spelt her doom as Nimisha quickly read her game and went for her strokes.

The top seeds won easily in the under-14 section as Sharan Patil and Ravina Shetty bagged the boys and girls singles titles respectively. Sharan out hit S. Raghavendra 6-4, 6-2 while Ravina routed S.P. Ritu 6-0, 6-3.

The results (all finals): Singles: Boys: U-18: Harshavardhan Thirani (WB) bt Preetam Roy Mores (Kar) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. U-14: Sharan Patil (Kar) bt S. Raghavendra (Kar) 6-4, 6-2. Girls: U-18: Nimisha Mohan (Kar) bt Rachita Sarda (Kar) 6-1, 6-1. U-14: Ravina Shetty (Kar) bt S.P. Ritu (Kar) 6-0, 6-3.

Kanaka beats Jayanagar SC

Kanaka (Kolar) upstaged holder Jayanagar Sports Club 48-38 in the boys' section of the State Youth basketball championship here on Friday. In the girls' section, Mounts Club beat Rajmahal 43-24. Roshini (10) starred in Mounts' win.

The results: Boys: Beagles 46 (Irfan 15, Vinay 12) bt Southern Blues 14; Bharath SU 39 (Tejus 14) bt National Mysore 21 (Pranav 10); Ambedkar BC 31 (Ronek 11) bt Belgaum 10. Girls: N. Setty's Mangalore 45 (Ashika 12) bt Appaiah BC 12; Sports School Vidyanagar 44 (Sushmitha 21, Deepika 10) bt Pinakini, Gowribidanur 14; Green, Davanagere 27 (Sowmya 12) bt Ambedkar, B'lore 13 (Varsha 10).

Youth volleyball team

The following will represent Karnataka in the ninth youth National volleyball tournament to be held at Vatakara, Kerala, from April 29 to May 6.

Boys: Mahesh (captain), Punith, Sanoj, Bhoopalan, Madhu Prakash, Anil Kumar, Mahadev Angadi, Gopal Krishna, Sampath, Karthik, Joby, Rakesh Kattimani, Mohammed Azharuddin, Coach: M.S Madegowda.

Girls: Swetha (captain), P.V. Hemalatha, Dakshinamalar, V.K. Manjula, R. Manjusha, Akshatha, K. Archana, T.A. Lithika, Jancy Rani, R. Pavithra, Shobitha, Navya Shree. Coach: A. Praveen Singh.

Big win for Mandya

Mandya registered a facile eight-wicket win over Mysore `A' in the KSCA inter-district under-17 tournament at the Gangothri grounds, Mysore, on Friday.

The scores: Mysore `A' 173 in 48.2 overs (Sampreeth R. Shetty 54, D. Suraj 44) lost to Mandya 175 for two in 38.1 overs (Vishwas 52, A.M. Kiran 42 not out).

Mysore `B' 153 in 34.2 overs (Siddique four for 40) bt Chamarajanagar 73 in 31 overs (K. Sachin three for four).

Hockey trials

The Sports Authority of India, Southern Centre, a centre for excellence in hockey will conduct trials for trainees in the age group between 17 and 22 at the SAI complex from May 3 to 5. Interested should report with their certificates and date of birth originals along with three passport size photos and a NOC from the employer. For details, call SAI, 3215647 or 23213120.

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