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Friday, May 04, 2007
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Kiran claws his way back from the brink

Special Correspondent

Vishnu Jinan chokes on matchpoint

Mysore: Second-seeded C.M. Kiran staved off two match points to beat third seed Vishnu K. Jinan 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) and entered the boys under-16 singles finals of the NTC-Rotary Mysore Midtown AITA Talent Series for juniors at the SJCE courts here on Thursday.

Kiran takes on his doubles partner and fifth seeded Varun Gopal, who out-hit wildcard entrant Rohit Srinath 6-0, 6-3, in the other semifinals.

In an absorbing two-hour tussle, Kiran, after some initial hiccups, showed a lot of resolve to overcome his gritty rival, who packed quite a punch on his forehand.

It was Vishnu who seized the initiative in the first set and maintained the tempo to take it easily.

Strong return

But Kiran came back strongly in the second, with his consistent returns and good angles, to keep his rival on the run. Kiran raced to a 3-0 lead and won 6-3, giving little chance for Vishnu who looked pretty frustrated.

The decider saw a keen struggle for supremacy, with both players giving little away, before Vishnu seized a decisive break in the ninth game. He was all set to wrap up the tie, leading 40-15 on his serve, but in a bid to finish with a flourish, he miscued a return over the baseline to give a lifeline for Kiran, who grabbed it with both hands and saved one more with a well timed winner.

Too much pressure

With the score at deuce, the pressure was very much on Vishnu and he succumbed to give away the game. With the set tied at 5-5, the two traded breaks to send the match into a tie-breaker.

Kiran led 5-3 and Vishnu made it 5-5 before Kiran bounced back to take a point again after a good rally. He went on to take match when Vishnu put away a return over the sidelines.

In the girls under-16 event, unseeded Preeti Gokhale of Karnataka upset second-seeded V. Nayanatara of Andhra Pradesh 6-0, 6-1 to set up a title clash with S.P. Ritu, who beat Tamil Nadu's Vidhya Bharath 6-3, 6-3.

Preeti also made it to the under-14 final with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Preethi Ujjini and she meets Shruthi Ashok in the final.

Top-seeded S. Raghavendra meets Kashyap Ashok in the under-14 boys singles final. Heavy rains in the evening curtailed the boys and girls under-16 doubles final.

In the State-ranking tournament, B.R. Nikshep picked up his second successive title, beating Amruth Gowda 9-4 in the final of the under-10 event.

The results: Boys under-16 singles: Semifinals: Varun Gopal (Kar) bt Rohit Srinath (kar) 6-0, 6-3; C.M. Kiran (Kar) bt Vishnu K. Jinan (Kar) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).

Boys under-14 singles: Semifinals: S. Raghavendra (Kar) bt Venkatesh Krishna (TN) 7-6(5), 7-5; Kashyap Ashok (Kar) bt Anirudh Puranic (Kar) 6-0, 6-1.

Boys under-14 doubles: Final: Siddarth Reddy & Venkatesh Krishna (TN) bt Raghavendra & Anirudh Puranic (Kar) 6-3, 6-7(4), 10-6.

Girls under-16 singles: Semifinals: Preeti Gokhale (Kar) bt V. Nayanatara (AP) 6-0, 6-1; S.P. Ritu (Kar) bt Vidhya Bharath (TN) 6-3, 6-3.

Girls under-14 singles: Semifinals: Preeti Gokhale (Kar) bt Preethi Ujjaini (Kar) 6-2, 6-1; Shruthi Ashok (Kar) bt Laharishree (Kar) 6-1, 6-0.

Karnataka State-ranking tournament: Boys under-12 singles: Semifinals: Prajwal Dev (Kar) bt L.D. Hitesh (Kar) 9-5; Suraj R Prabodh (Kar) bt R. Vekajan (Kar) 9-0.

Boys under-12 doubles: Final: Prajwal & Rakshith (Kar) bt Anoop S. Sagar 6-4, 6-2.

Children's under-10 singles: Final: B.R. Nikshep bt Amruth Gowda 9-4.

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