Sama Sathwika made up for the disappointment of not making the girls’ singles final by clinching the doubles crown in splendid style at the Grade 4 International Tennis Federation Juniors tournament played at the Sports Authority of Telangana State tennis complex at Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad.
Sathwika and Shivani Ingle clinched the the doubles final. The runners-up, Shrivalli Rashmikaa and Shravya Shivani, are from the city as well. Rashmikaa and Shivani matched their second-seeded opponents stroke for stroke right from the start and took the set down to the wire. Even in the tie-breaker, neither pair gave any ground and it was only in the end that Shivani and Rashmikaa won two points in a row and went ahead by a set.
Sathwika and her partner quickly gathered their wits and launched a fierce fightback. They pummelled their Hyderabadi opponents to clinch the second set 6-2 and took the match into the super tie-breaker. The super tie-breaker was a keenly-contested affair and the Sathwika-Shivani pair broke their opponents towards the end and held their serve to win the match and with it, the title.
Meanwhile, Mahak Jain was crowned the champion in the girls singles competition. She hammered Akanksha Bhan 6-0, 6-3 to take home the silverware. In the boys’ section, Rian Pandole won the top prize in singles while the Vasisht Cheruku and Sahil Deshmukh teamed up to clinch the doubles championship. In the singles final, Rian pounded Sanil Jagtiani in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 to lift the trophy. In the doubles summit clash, Vasisht and Sahil defeated the pairing of Shaheed and Akash Reddiyar 6-1, 5-7, 10-6.
