Telangana’s Sunskrithi Damera came up with superb tennis to finish in the top bracket of three categories at the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) Super Series tournament played at Kolkata South Club recently.
Sunskrithi clinched a thrilling 6-7 (10-12), 6-3, 6-3 win over Joshika Prem Kumar of Tamil Nadu in the girls Under 14 singles final.
The Telangana girl lost the first set in a close encounter but fought hard to come from behind to send her opponent crashing in the next two sets.
Sunskrithi uppped the tempo to bounce back and take the second set 6-3. Buoyed by success, she discovered her confidence and began to strike the ball with telling effect.
She continued her dominance in the third set and went about drilling winners at will to seal it at 6-3 and take the title.
In the girls U-16 final, Sunskrithi was up against Odisha’s Ruthu Purna Chowdhury, who proved a bit too strong for her as the Telangana girl went down 4-6, 2-6.
Ruthu got off the blocks early and raced to a good start to pile the pressure on Sunskrithi, who was left to play catch-up.
With the first set safely tucked away at 6-4, Ruthu raised the tempo of the game to corner her opponent in the second set to seal it at 6-2 and take home the top trophy.
In the Under 16 doubles final, Sunskrithi and Aditi Narayan of Karnataka secured the runners-up position. Odisha’s Ameek Kumar Batth paired up with her statemate Ruthu Purna Chowdhury to carve a 4-6, 7-5 (12-14) victory.
The Odisha pair easily won the first set at 6-4. Ruthu and Ameek then fought hard as things got tough in the second set before wrapping up the match.
