Saketh emerges champ

Andhra Pradeshs Sowjanya clinches womens title

Saketh, who last won a trophy in 2004 at the National Junior championship in Chennai, sailed past unseeded Mohit Mayur of Tamil Nadu 6-3, 6-3 in just over an hour at the KSLTA courts.

Well before that, third seed Sowjanya Bavisetti of Andhra Pradesh overcame a first-set deficit to prevail over fourth seed Natasha Palha of Goa 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the women’s crown.

The 23-year-old Saketh pulled off a crucial break in the seventh game of the first set with a backhand volley which Mayur dumped into the net. Saketh took the first set when Mayur, the Junior National champion at the start of this month in Chennai, dropped his serve again, failing to reach a backhand drop.

In the second set, Saketh broke Mayur in the eighth game and then served out the match with an ace. Sowjanya, who had to call the physio three times during the match to get her troublesome right knee treated, dropped the first game of the match. Initially, Sowjanya was struggling to keep the ball in play while Natasha battled with her serve, which led to a flurry of breaks in the first set.

The players traded three breaks each to force the set into a tie-breaker, which Sowjanya surrendered 5-7 by hitting a forehand long.  The left-handed Sowjanya broke her opponent in the first game of the second set but failed to hold serve in the sixth.

She broke Natasha in the ninth game to go 5-4 ahead before serving well to draw level. The 17-year-old raced to a 5-1 lead in the decider, breaking her rival in the first and fifth games. Serving to stay in the match, Natasha again faltered as Sowjanya came up with a double-handed backhand return to fetch her a match-point, and ended the two-hour, 47-minute tussle with a forehand winner.

Results (finals, prefix number denote seedings):
Men: Saketh Myneni (AP) bt Mohit Mayur (TN) 6-3, 6-3.
Doubles: Mohammed Fariz/ Vijay Sundar Prashanth (TN) bt Elwin Anthony/ Mohit Mayur (TN) 6-2, 6-4.
Women: 3-Sowjanya Bavisetti (AP) bt 4-Natasha Palha (Goa) 6-7(5-7), 6-4, 6-1.
Doubles: Treta Bhattacharya/ Sonia Dayal (WB/ Mah) bt Sharmada Balu/ Sheethal Goutham (Kar) 6-4, 6-3.