<p>It was a big day for teenaged Ram Kumar Ramanathan of GAIL, who exacted sweet revenge against Olympian Vishnu Vardhan of ONGC to lift the men’s singles title in the PSPB inter-unit tennis championship here at the KSLTA courts on Saturday. <br /><br />Ram Kumar, who burst into the scene when he beat Somdev Devvarman at the Chennai Open this year, rallied from a set down to beat Vishnu 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a match that lasted two hours and twenty minutes.<br /><br />In the deciding third set, both players held serve till the 11th game when Ram Kumar nudged ahead before sealing the deal on his service to win the tie.</p>.<p><br />“I am pleased with the win, which came after a tough contest,” said Ram Kumar, 19, who was the top seed at the event.<br /><br />The quick-starting Vishnu surged ahead with an early service break in the first set to take a 3-0 lead before Ramanathan broke back to restore parity at 3-3. Vishnu returned the complement with interest to take the first set 6-4.<br /><br />The narrative was reversed in the next set as Ram Kumar started the brighter of the two to take a 4-1 lead.<br /><br />Vishnu had a chance with two break points but squandered them that gave the opportunity for Ram Kumar to consolidate before taking the set 6-2. <br /><br />An unfortunate net cord gave Ram Kumar the opening in the 11th game of the third set and he utilised it to maximum effect. The Chennai-based Ram Kumar was later named as the player of the tournament.<br /><br /><br />Results (all finals):<br />Men’s singles: Ram Kumar Ramanathan (GAIL) bt Vishnu Vardhan (ONGC) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.<br />Veterans singles: Tejbir Singh (IOCL) bt V Bhushan Akut 7-5, 6-0.<br />Veterans doubles: Hakim Ali/ Kalyan Das bt Jitin Mishra/ Bhorupuzari DJ (ONGC) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-6.</p>
<p>It was a big day for teenaged Ram Kumar Ramanathan of GAIL, who exacted sweet revenge against Olympian Vishnu Vardhan of ONGC to lift the men’s singles title in the PSPB inter-unit tennis championship here at the KSLTA courts on Saturday. <br /><br />Ram Kumar, who burst into the scene when he beat Somdev Devvarman at the Chennai Open this year, rallied from a set down to beat Vishnu 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a match that lasted two hours and twenty minutes.<br /><br />In the deciding third set, both players held serve till the 11th game when Ram Kumar nudged ahead before sealing the deal on his service to win the tie.</p>.<p><br />“I am pleased with the win, which came after a tough contest,” said Ram Kumar, 19, who was the top seed at the event.<br /><br />The quick-starting Vishnu surged ahead with an early service break in the first set to take a 3-0 lead before Ramanathan broke back to restore parity at 3-3. Vishnu returned the complement with interest to take the first set 6-4.<br /><br />The narrative was reversed in the next set as Ram Kumar started the brighter of the two to take a 4-1 lead.<br /><br />Vishnu had a chance with two break points but squandered them that gave the opportunity for Ram Kumar to consolidate before taking the set 6-2. <br /><br />An unfortunate net cord gave Ram Kumar the opening in the 11th game of the third set and he utilised it to maximum effect. The Chennai-based Ram Kumar was later named as the player of the tournament.<br /><br /><br />Results (all finals):<br />Men’s singles: Ram Kumar Ramanathan (GAIL) bt Vishnu Vardhan (ONGC) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.<br />Veterans singles: Tejbir Singh (IOCL) bt V Bhushan Akut 7-5, 6-0.<br />Veterans doubles: Hakim Ali/ Kalyan Das bt Jitin Mishra/ Bhorupuzari DJ (ONGC) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-6.</p>
