Indian sports wrap, November 8: Anjali beats Sahira to clinch AITA women’s tournament
TENNIS
AITA women’s tournament: Third seed Anjali beats second seed Sahira
Third seed Anjali Rathi beat second seed Sahira Singh 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Rs.2,50,000 AITA women’s tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy on Friday.
The 18-year-old Anjali had earlier knocked out the top seed Yubrani Banerjee in straight sets. In fact, Anjali had dropped only 22 games in all in the first four rounds.
It was another addition to the trophy collection of the Rathi family, as Anjali’s brother Arjun Rathi had won the ITF junior title in Nairobi, Kenya, last week. Both players train at the Roundglass Academy in Chandigarh, under chief coach Aditya Sachdeva.
Yubrani won the doubles title in partnership with Kashish Bhatia, beating the second seeds, Divya Bhardwaj and Chandana Potugari in straight sets.
The results (finals)
Singles: Anjali Rathi bt Sahira Singh 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Doubles: Yubrani Banerjee & Kashish Bhatia bt Divya Bhardwaj & Chandana Potugari 6-1, 7-6(3).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Men’s ITF tournament: Aryan Shah beats national champion Rethi in quarterfinals
Davis Cupper Aryan Shah asserted his consistent game as he beat the national champion Rethin Pranav 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the Kalinga Stadium on Friday.
In a battle of wits that lasted two hours and 26 minutes, Aryan converted six of nine breakpoints to pull through, even as Rethin lost the grip on his serve in the decider.
In the semifinals, Aryan will challenge the top seed, Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic.
Two other Indian hopes Karan Singh and S.D. Prajwal Dev were also beaten, as Bogdan Bobrov set up the other semifinal against Nick Chappell.
In the doubles semifinals, top seeds Egor Agafonov and Bogdan Bobrov turned the match around from the brink of defeat, to beat Ishaque Eqbal and Faisal Qamar 10-8 in the super tie-break.
They will play Rishab Agarwal and Kabir Hans in the final.
The results
Singles (quarterfinals): Dalibor Svrcina (Cze) bt Dev Javia 6-4, 6-1; Aryan Shah bt Rethin Pranav 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; Bogdan Bobrov bt Karan Singh 6-3, 6-0; Nick Chappell (USA) bt S.D Prajwal Dev 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (retired).
Doubles (semifinals): Egor Agafonov & Bogdan Bobrov bt Ishaque Eqbal & Faisal Qamar 3-6, 7-6(6), [10-8]; Rishab Agarwal & Kabir Hans bt Siddhant Banthia & Vishnu Vardhan 6-2, 7-6(4).
-Kamesh Srinivasan