The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Vigneswaran to meet Rashien in final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 18, 2007
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Sport - Tennis

Vigneswaran to meet Rashien in final

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: The top seed Rashien Samuel will take on the eighth seed R. Vigneswaran in the boys' singles final of the Laabh Jewellers AITA championship series (under-16) junior tennis tournament at the Sadhashivanagar Club courts on Friday. Rashien defeated a shaky Karnataka mate Rohit Srinath 6-3, 6-2 while a methodical Vigneswaran of Tamil Nadu stopped the local lad and second seed Sharan Patil 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals here on Thursday.

Vigneswaranseized the early chances and kept up the pressure on a flashy Sharan Patil all through the tie.

The first set proved a romp for the Tamil Nadu youngster but Sharan Patil fought well in the second set matching his rival stroke for stroke and led 4-3. A concentration lapse and a couple of unforced errors saw Patil lose the grip and Vigneswaran broke ahead for a 5-4 lead and then held serve in style to clinch the match.

Rashien was always the front-runner against the Mysore lad Rohit, who lacked the consistency to make a match out of it. Despite belting some strong forehand winners, he came unstuck against a steady Rashien, who dictated the pace from the baseline.

The top seed C. Rajeswari of Tamil Nadu blasted her way into the girls' final past fourth seed Ravina Shetty of Karnataka 6-1, 6-2. She will meet the second seed A.K. Padmapriya, who prevailed over the fifth seed Sanjana Kumar of Tamil Nadu 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

In line for double

Both Vigneswaran and Padmapriya are in line for a double as they won the doubles titles later in the afternoon session. Vigneswaran and Vinod Gowda bagged the boys' doubles title with a 7-5, 7-6(8) win over Rashien and Sharan Patil while in the girls' final, Padmapriya and U.M. Shalaka defeated C. Rajeswari and Ravina Shetty 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.

The results (all from Karnataka unless specified):

Singles (semifinals): Boys: R. Vigneswaran (TN) bt Sharan Patil 6-2, 6-4; Rashien Samuel bt Rohit Srinath 6-3, 6-2. Girls: C. Rajeswari (TN) bt Ravina Shetty 6-1, 6-2; A.K. Padmapriya bt Sanjana Kumar (TN) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Doubles: Final: Boys: R.Vigneswaran/Vinod Gowda bt Rashien Samuel/Sharan Patil 7-5, 7-6(8). Girls: Padmapriya/U.M. Shalaka bt Rajeswari/Ravina 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.

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