Manish and Vaishnavi clinch singles titles in National Tennis Championship

New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Tamil Nadu’s Manish Sureshkumar and Maharashtra’s Vaishnavi Adkar continued their winning run in the 30th National Tennis Championship to clinch the men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively, at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Saturday.

In the men’s singles final, Manish Sureshkumar overcame Keerthivassan Suresh 6-4, 6-2 in a two-hour contest, showing his consistency and composure under pressure.

Both players began aggressively, trading early breaks of serve to level at 1-1. Manish then broke Keerthivassan's serve to go 2-1 up and consolidated to make it 3-1. Keerthivassan responded strongly, holding and breaking back to edge ahead 4-3. However, Manish lifted his game from that point, breaking his opponent's serve again to close the opening set.

Carrying the momentum into the second set, the Tamil Nadu player maintained his rhythm, playing long rallies with precise groundstrokes and solid returns. He wrapped up the set 6-2 to seal the match and the men’s singles crown.

On the other hand, Vaishnavi started the women’s singles final in top gear, breaking Akanksha Nitture’s serve early to lead 2-0. Though Akanksha briefly broke back, Vaishnavi quickly regained control, with precise shots to win the opening set.

The second set followed a similar pattern as Vaishnavi maintained her momentum. After both players held serve early, she broke Akanksha twice to surge ahead 5-1. Despite Akansha pulling one break back, Vaishnavi held firm, serving out confidently to seal the set and title with the final score of 6-1, 6-2.

Supported by DCM Shriram Ltd., and held under the aegis of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA), the Fenesta Open continues to be India’s largest domestic tennis championship, attracting the nation’s top talent.

In the Under-18 category, Harshini N edged past Snigdha Kanta 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in a tightly contested girls’ singles final that lasted over three hours.

In the boys’ singles final, Tavish Pahwa triumphed over Hruthik Katakam 7-6(2), 1-0 (retired), after Katakam was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles final, the pair of Nitin Kumar Sinha and Maan Kesharwani defeated Manish Sureshkumar and Abhinav Sanjeev S 6-4, 3-6, [10-5] in a thrilling contest that went down to the wire.

In the women’s doubles category, Akanksha Nitture teamed up with Soha Sadiq to record a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Pooja Ingale and Yubrani Banerjee.

Vraj H. Gohil and Prakaash Sarran came from behind to beat Karan Thapa and Channamallikarjuna Yale 2-6, 7-5, [10-5] in a gripping boys’ U-18 doubles final. In the girls’ U-18 doubles final, Savitha Bhuvaneswaran and Aahan outclassed Akansha Ghosh and Deepshika V 6-3, 6-3 to lift the title.

Besides the prestigious titles, the winners will be awarded with prize money with a total prize pool of over Rs 21.55 Lakh and Kit Allowance in the junior categories up for grabs. The winners and runners-up in the U16 and U14 singles events will also receive a Tennis scholarship of ₹25,000 each. The Boys and Girls Under-16 & Under-14 category qualifying and main draw matches will be played from October 5 to October 11.

--IANS

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