The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Suresh Krishna and Prerna Bhambri reign

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 23, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Suresh Krishna and Prerna Bhambri reign

Special Correspondent

Hyderabad: Suresh Krishna and Prerna Bhambri clinched the boys and girls singles crowns of the Vijay Textiles International Tennis Federation junior circuit tournament at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) complex here on Saturday. In the finals, Suresh Krishna subdued Vikram Reddy 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(3), while Prerna Bhambri brushed aside birthday girl Sonia Dayal 6-2, 6-0.

In a nearly three-hour contest, even on most counts, the biggest weapon in Krishna’s armoury, his serve, stood by him through thick and thin. The second year B. Com. student of Wesley College, Secunderabad, said keeping his cool at crucial times also proved pivotal.

In good stead

The latter trait held him in good stead particularly in the first and third sets that were decided on tie-breaks. With Suresh and Vikram rarely letting the grip on their service slacken, the deadlock could only be broken this way. Top seed Vikram, while unleashing some devastating winners to the corners, seemed to cave in crunch situations. For instance, the deep and wristy returns that won him so many points, seemed to desert him at such times, sailing over his rival’s baseline.

As if it was a day dedicated to the underdog, Suresh, a rank outsider here, had won the last edition of this event in Chennai. Prerna Bhambri, seventh in the listings, subdued second-ranked southpaw Sonia Dayal, wresting the latter’s serve at will. The final was a cakewalk for the 10th standard student of Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram, her hard hitting proving too hot for Sonia.

Ravaged by rain, the schedule went haywire quite often, with several hours of play lost, while waiting for the courts to dry. Poor light and carried over matches were other problems. Through all this, the trio of Chief Referee Shiva Kumar Reddy, Tournament Director and Andhra Pradesh Lawn Tennis Association (APLTA) Joint Secretary Praveen Bhargava and APLTA Manager S.L.N. Prasad spared no effort to complete the event on time, along with a band of dedicated officials and ground staff. So was physio Sunil Dutt present at court-side.