<p>ONGC’s Ankita Raina drubbed GAIL’s Prerna Bhambri 6-0, 6-0 to claim the women’s crown in the 33rd PSPB inter-unit tennis championship at the KSLTA Stadium here on Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Ankita served hard and hit fluent winners with her double-handed backhand against a struggling Prerna, who let a spate of double faults and unforced errors get under her skin.<br /><br />In the men’s section, GAIL’s R Ram Kumar, the top seed, fought hard to overcome ONGC’s VM Ranjeet 6-4, 7-5 to book a spot in the summit tie. ONGC’s Vishnu Vardhan was handed a walkover in the other semifinal after IOCL’s Rohan Bopanna retired after winning the first set.<br /><br /> The semifinal tie between Ram Kumar and Ranjeet was marked by some good rallies and both players set a hot pace, matching each other stroke for stroke. However, it was Ram Kumar’s consistency which saw him past a gritty Ranjeet.<br /><br />In a battle of big servers, Vishnu and Bopanna fought tooth and nail for each point before Bopanna held his nerve and won the first set 7-6 (10-8). In the second set, Vishnu looked a lot more aggressive and went ahead 3-2 before Bopanna threw in the towel citing fatigue.<br /><br />Vishnu had earlier in the day won the men’s double title partnering Ranjeet, defeating OIL’s Anshuman Dutta and CS Mohanty 6-1, 6-1.<br /><br />Bopanna feted<br /><br />Bopanna was made an honorary member of the KSLTA on Friday. “We took a decision to make Bopanna an honorary member at our EC meeting and it is in honour of his contribution to State and Indian tennis,” said KSLTA joint secretary PR Ramaswamy.<br /><br /> Bopanna said: “I am pleased to the get membership at the KSLTA, which has a special place in my tennis career.”<br /><br /><br />Results:<br /><br />Men’s singles (semifinals): R Ram Kumar (GAIL) bt VM Ranjeet (ONGC) 6-4, 7-5; Vishnu Vardhan (ONGC) bt Rohan Bopanna (IOCL) 6-7 (8-10), 3-2 (retd).<br /><br />Doubles (final): Vishnu Vardhan/ VM Ranjeet (ONGC) bt Anshuman Dutta/ CS Mohanty (OIL) 6-1, 6-1. <br /><br />Women’s singles (final): Ankita Raina (ONGC) bt Prerna Bhambri (GAIL) 6-0, 6-0.<br />Veterans singles (semifinals): Tejbir Singh Bhandari (IOCL) bt DJ Bhopurzari (ONGC) 6-0, 6-0; BhushanAkut (BPCL) bt Hakim Ali (OIL) 6-3, 2-1 (retd).<br /><br />Team event (final): IOCL beat OIL 2-1 (Tejbir Singh Bhandari bt Hakim 6-3, 6-3; Venkatesh lt to Jayantha Malakar 5-7, 2-6; Tejbir Singh Bhandari/ Vivek Satya bt Kalyan Das/ Jayanta Malakar 6-0, 6-0).<br />Third-place play-off: ONGC bt BPCL 2-1.</p>
<p>ONGC’s Ankita Raina drubbed GAIL’s Prerna Bhambri 6-0, 6-0 to claim the women’s crown in the 33rd PSPB inter-unit tennis championship at the KSLTA Stadium here on Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Ankita served hard and hit fluent winners with her double-handed backhand against a struggling Prerna, who let a spate of double faults and unforced errors get under her skin.<br /><br />In the men’s section, GAIL’s R Ram Kumar, the top seed, fought hard to overcome ONGC’s VM Ranjeet 6-4, 7-5 to book a spot in the summit tie. ONGC’s Vishnu Vardhan was handed a walkover in the other semifinal after IOCL’s Rohan Bopanna retired after winning the first set.<br /><br /> The semifinal tie between Ram Kumar and Ranjeet was marked by some good rallies and both players set a hot pace, matching each other stroke for stroke. However, it was Ram Kumar’s consistency which saw him past a gritty Ranjeet.<br /><br />In a battle of big servers, Vishnu and Bopanna fought tooth and nail for each point before Bopanna held his nerve and won the first set 7-6 (10-8). In the second set, Vishnu looked a lot more aggressive and went ahead 3-2 before Bopanna threw in the towel citing fatigue.<br /><br />Vishnu had earlier in the day won the men’s double title partnering Ranjeet, defeating OIL’s Anshuman Dutta and CS Mohanty 6-1, 6-1.<br /><br />Bopanna feted<br /><br />Bopanna was made an honorary member of the KSLTA on Friday. “We took a decision to make Bopanna an honorary member at our EC meeting and it is in honour of his contribution to State and Indian tennis,” said KSLTA joint secretary PR Ramaswamy.<br /><br /> Bopanna said: “I am pleased to the get membership at the KSLTA, which has a special place in my tennis career.”<br /><br /><br />Results:<br /><br />Men’s singles (semifinals): R Ram Kumar (GAIL) bt VM Ranjeet (ONGC) 6-4, 7-5; Vishnu Vardhan (ONGC) bt Rohan Bopanna (IOCL) 6-7 (8-10), 3-2 (retd).<br /><br />Doubles (final): Vishnu Vardhan/ VM Ranjeet (ONGC) bt Anshuman Dutta/ CS Mohanty (OIL) 6-1, 6-1. <br /><br />Women’s singles (final): Ankita Raina (ONGC) bt Prerna Bhambri (GAIL) 6-0, 6-0.<br />Veterans singles (semifinals): Tejbir Singh Bhandari (IOCL) bt DJ Bhopurzari (ONGC) 6-0, 6-0; BhushanAkut (BPCL) bt Hakim Ali (OIL) 6-3, 2-1 (retd).<br /><br />Team event (final): IOCL beat OIL 2-1 (Tejbir Singh Bhandari bt Hakim 6-3, 6-3; Venkatesh lt to Jayantha Malakar 5-7, 2-6; Tejbir Singh Bhandari/ Vivek Satya bt Kalyan Das/ Jayanta Malakar 6-0, 6-0).<br />Third-place play-off: ONGC bt BPCL 2-1.</p>
