Date:01/08/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/08/01/stories/2004080107111600.htm

Sport - Tennis

Nirun's impressive form continues

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 31. Giant-killer Nirun Raj gulped another big fish as he moved into the men's singles final of the 61st Trivandrum Open State ranking tennis tournament at the TTC courts here on Saturday.

The unseeded Nirun Raj upset the second seed and last year's runner-up Binoj Mani 7-6, 6-2 in the semifinals. Nirun had scalped the fifth seed Reynold Timothy in the quarterfinals. In the final, Nirun will meet defending champion Binu Mani who breezed past G. Ramamoorthy 6-1, 6-4.

Greeshma Roy will meet Neha S. Nair in the women's singles final after scoring contrasting wins in the semifinal.

The results (all semifinals):

Men's singles: M. Binu Mani bt G. Ramamoorthy 6-1, 6-4; Nirun Raj bt Binoj Mani 7-6, 6-2.

Doubles: M. Binu Mani/Binoj Mani bt A. Ajaykumar/Cecil George 2-6, 6-0, 6-3; Shankar/Nirun Raj bt K. Vijayakumar/M.Bijumani 6-0, 6-3.

Boys (Under-18): V.S. Visakh bt A. Anand 6-1, 6-2; Reynold Timothy bt G. Chandu 6-0, 6-1. Under-14: Mihir Pillai w/o G.L. Vivek; R.S. Advaith bt M.A.K. Siddharth 9-1. Under-12: Solomon G. Thomas bt Vignesh V. Gopal 9-4; Anand George bt H. Suraj 9-4.

Women: Greeshma Roy bt Preethi Gangadharan 6-4, 6-7, 6-1; Neha S. Nair bt Neelima Sanjai 6-3, 6-4.

Girls (under-18): Greeshma Roy bt Neelima Sanjai 6-2, 6-2; Neha S. Nair bt Parvathy Vijayan 6-1. 6-0.