Balasore, December 24(Odisha.in) The seeded players of Under-14 Boys and Girls had an easy win in the main draw (singles) of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) Championship Tournament held at Modern Public School ground in Balasore, on Monday.
While U-14 (boys) top seed Surya Pawan of Andhra Pradesh beat Rohan Kamani of West Bengal at 6-1 and 6-0, second seed Anshu Bhuyan of Orissa beat Akshat Vijay of West Bengal at 7-5 and 7-5.
Similarly, third seed Siddharth Reddy of Tamilnadu, forth seed Marcos Gomes of Delhi, fifth seed Nishant Rebello of AP, sixth seed Shukrit Guha of WB, seventh seed Rahul Somani of AP and eight seed Harsh Gurnani of AP sent their opponents packing with straight-set wins.
In U-14 (girls) singles while K Ruth Selena of AP beat Ahana Benerjee of WB at 6-2 and 7-5, Ahana Mohanti of Orissa was defeated by Adrita Benerjee of West Bengal at 1-6 and 2-6. Similarly, TG Jenani of TN was crashed out by Ankita of TN at 2-6 and 4-6.
Speaking on this occasion, Secretary of Tourism Department and Orissa Tennis Association (OTA) Asit Tripaty said that tennis has seen a sea change in Orissa. “Now-a-day, more and more children are interested for this sport. It has become the second popular sport after football as 215 countries play tennis,” he said.
“The main aim to organize the tournament in Balasore is to encourage local talents and make their focus clear for the sport. Through such events local players can get an opportunity to play with outsiders and develop their skills,” Tripathy said.
The OTA secretary too appreciated Balasore Collector for his active involvement in the tournament. “Perhaps he is the first collector who doesn’t play tennis but have ample interest to organize such a great event,” he said besides tanking the authorities of Modern Public School for providing all infrastructures available, for the tournament.
Tournament Director and Collector and District Magistrate of Balasore Dr Alekh Chandra Padhiary, Industrialist Himanshu as and secretary of Balasore Tennis Association S D Bhanj also spoke.
Later, gift kits donated by Emami Paper Mills Limited and caps gifted by Hari Plast were distributed among the participants.
The AITA U-14 Championship Tournament is being coordinated by tournament committee chairman of OTA Subhranshu Sarangi, tournament coordinator Saurav Behera and member Madan Saraogi.
The tournament, which is being organized by Balasore Tennis Association under the auspices of the Orissa Tennis Association, would continue till December 27.
Results: Boys, U-14, Singles, Main Draw: Surya Pawan (AP) bt Rohan Kamani (WB) 6-1, 6-0; Shakti Ray (ORS) bt Dwipayan Pattnaik (ORS) 6-2,6-3.
Prabin Ku Nayak (ORS) bt Rutwik Mishra (ORS) 6-3, 6-2; Nishant Rebello (AP) bt Kiran Ku Naik (ORS) 6-1, 6-2; D Shiva Satvik (AP) bt Saheel Upadhyaya (ORS) 6-4, 6-1; Adwithiya Pattnaik (ORS) bt Rounak Sahu 6-4, 6-2; Marcos Gomes (Delhi) bt Vishal Das Kaushik (ORS) 6-1, 6-1; Siddharth Reddy (TN) bt Abhilash Mishra (ORS) 6-0, 6-1.
Abhisek Naik (ORS) bt Amlan Roy (WB) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Shreyas Das (ORS) bt K Sai Sandeep (AP) 6-0, 4-6, 6-4; Harsh Gurnani (WB) bt Arjun Pandey (UP) 6-0, 6-0; Rahul Somani (AP) bt Md Shaharyar Salim (Jharkhand) 6-4, 6-3; MMK Ramineni (AP) bt Siddharth Das (ORS) 6-4, 6-1; Purusottam Dash (ORS) bt Manrajsingh Zandu (Jha) 6-2, 6-4 and Anshu Ku Bhuyan (ORS) bt Akshat Vijay (WB) 7-5, 7-5.
Results: Girls, U-14, Singles, Main Draw: Adrita Benerjee (WB) bt Ahana Mohanti (ORS) 6-1, 6-2; K Ruth Selena (AP) bt Ahana Benerjee (WB) 6-2, 7-5 and A Ankita (TN) bt TG Jenani 6-2, 6-4.
Odisha.in