National Tennis C'ship: Aahan bags double, Samarth wins title in junior section of Fenesta Open

New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Odisha’s Aahan continued her astonishing run to win the singles titles in the girls' Under-16 and Under-14 categories while Gujarat’s Samarth Sahita claimed the trophy in the boys' Under-16 singles category at the 29th Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship held at the DLTA Complex here on Saturday.

Aahan played a gruelling final in the Under-16 stage that lasted more than three hours and defeated Maharashtra’s Aishwarya Jadhav 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 before beating Parthsarthi Mundhe of Maharastra 6-4, 6-3 in the Under-14 final. On the other hand, Samarth beat Kerala’s Karan Thapa 6-3, 6-4 in the Under-16 final.

Aahan started the final against Aishwarya on a positive note and won the first two games to take the lead. However, the Maharashtra player came roaring back and won five games in a row to get ahead in the final. Aahan then brought her A game to the court and clinched the next five games in a row to win the first set. Aishwarya looked in complete control of the following set before Aahan notched up the final set with a five-game margin.

In the boys' Under-16 singles final, Samarth carried forward his momentum and took a quick lead before winning the first set. The second set saw Karan breaking Samarth’s serve but the Gujarat made a fine comeback and won the final.

The boys' Under-14 singles title was bagged by Raghav Sarode of Maharashtra, who defeated top seed Aaradhya Mhasde 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in a thrilling three-set final.

Besides the prestigious titles, the winners were awarded prize money from a total prize pool of over Rs 21.55 lakh. Kit Allowance, in the junior categories, were also up for grabs. The winners and runners-up in the U16 and U14 singles events also received a Tennis scholarship of ₹25,000 each.

India’s largest domestic tennis tournament supported by DCM Shriram Ltd. is being held under the aegis of the All India Tennis Association and Delhi Lawn Tennis Association and witnessing the participation of exciting talents from various parts of the country fighting for the coveted crowns. The tournament has seen the participation of some of India’s top tennis stars in the past editions including Rohan Bopanna, Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri, Sania Mirza and Rutuja Bhosale among many others.

--IANS

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