Bitter-sweet day for Savio

It was a bitter-sweet day for Anthony Savio. The Karnataka lad romped into the under-18 final, but couldn’t progress beyond the semifinals in the under-16 section in the Mahila Seva Samaja-AITA Junior Talent Series tennis championship at the Mahila Seva Samaja courts here on Thursday.

In the under-18 section, Savio beat Tamil Nadu’s S Gokul 6-3, 6-2, and will face another TN player, Siddarth Reddy, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Nipun Bajaj, in the title match. But Savio couldn’t put it across Raswant Ravi of Tamil Nadu in the under-16 section, losing 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-7 (6-8). Raswant will take on State-mate S Gokul, who beat Andhra Pradesh’s Atur BS 7-5, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Savio still stayed on course for a double crown, moving into the under-18 doubles final along with Harsha Manjunath. The duo defeated Andrew K Jose and Vivek Goutham 9-6 in the semis, and will next face Pranav Karthik and Nikhil Reddy for the title.

In the girls’ section, Pragati Nataraj of Tamil Nadu entered the under-16 and under-18 finals. The TN lass made short work of Gopika Madhu of Karnataka, registering a lop-sided 6-0, 6-1 in the under-16 section. She had it far easier in the under-18 category, receiving a walkover from Shikha Singh. Her under-18 final opponent will be Preethi Gokhale of Karnataka, who overpowered compatriot Prerna Kalar 6-4, 6-0.

Results (all semifinals):

Boys: Under-16: Raswant Ravi (TN) bt Anthony Savio (Kar) 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 7-6 (8-6); S Gokul (TN) bt Atur BS (AP) 7-5, 6-2. Under-18: Anthony Savio bt S Gokul 6-3, 6-2; Siddarth Reddy (TN) bt Nipun Bajaj (TN) 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles (best of 17 games): Pranav Karthik/Nikhil Reddy (Kar) bt Raswant Ravi/R Ramakrishnan (TN) 9-4; Anthony Savio/Harsha Manjunath (Kar) bt AndrewK Jose/Vivek Goutham 9-6.

Girls: Under-16: Pragati Nataraj (TN) bt Gopika Madhu (Kar) 6-0, 6-1; Anusha Dhar (AP) bt Shikha N Singh 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Under-18: Pragati Nataraj w/o Shikha N Singh; Preethi Gokhale (Kar) bt Prerna Kalar (Kar) 6-4, 6-0.