Abhay Prakash, Madhura take under-16 titles

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, JUNE 2. Abhay Prakash did a phoenix act. Trailing 2-5 in the opening set, the boys under-16 top seed switched gears, won eleven games in a row and left Syed Rahil counting his bruises. Abhay scored a 7-5, 6-0 victory and clinched the boys under-16 title of the AITA South Zone sub-junior championship which concluded at the KSLTA courts here on Saturday.

On the adjacent court, S. Prateek moved in the zone where champions traipse and ousted Kaushik S. Raju 6-1, 6-4. The unseeded Karnataka duo had a spirited battle in the second set before Prateek pulled away.

On the distaff side, Tamil Nadu's Vandana Murali etched the day's first upset, as the fourth seed ousted top- seeded Andhra lass S. Poonam Reddy 6-2, 6-2 in the girl's under- 14 final. In contrast, the girls under-16 final turned out to be a long-drawn affair where quality was at a premium. Eventually the unseeded Tamil Nadu girl Madhura Ranganath held her nerve to defeat fourth- seeded Preethi Shravan of Andhra Pradesh 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

The boys under-16 final had its moments before the Mysore lad Abhay cruised past Rahil. Abhay was however in a zombie mode when Rahil held the aces at 4-2 and got his forehands revving to form and had an edge in the baseline slugs.

The clincher was the seventh game with Rahil locked in deuce and barely managing to retain serve. But tiring legs and groundstrokes gone awry marked Rahil as a tired lad and Abhay grasped the toe-hold.

``He out-powered me till 5-2 and then I changed the pace and he made mistakes,'' Abhay said after the match. He played the percentages well and his down the line winners rang true to form. Rahil did show a glimmer of class in his cross-court volleys but a tendency to rush his shots undid him.

The results (finals):

Boys: Under-16: Abhay Prakash (Kar) bt Syed Rahil (Kar) 7-5, 6-0; Under-14: S. Prateek (Kar) bt Kaushik S Raju (Kar) 6-1, 6-4.

Girls: Under-16: Madhura Ranganath (TN) bt Preethi Shravan (AP) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1; Under-14: Vandana Murali (TN) bt S. Poonam Reddy (AP) 6-2, 6-2.

The various winners in the AITA South Zone sub-junior tennis championship in Bangalore on Saturday. Standing (from left): Abhay Prakash (boys under-16), Madhura Ranganath (girls under- 16), Vandana Murali (girls under-14) and S. Prateek (boys under- 14).

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