CHANDIGARH, July 18: CLTA trainees, Ajay Yadav and Prabhamrit Kaur Sandhu, were crowned champions in the boys under-18 and girls under-18 singles in the AITA Talent Series Tennis Tournament at the CLTA Stadium in Sector 10 here today.
An unwell but determined Ajay Yadav, a 10th class student of DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, overcame a tough opponent Akasht Joshi, also of Chandigarh in straight sets 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the boys under-18 final.
Yadav took the court after getting medical assistance for fever and body pain (viral). In the first set, both exhibited their skills and waged tough battle for every point.
The set was decided in tie-breaker 7-6 (4). With one set up, Ajay Yadav was going great guns in the second set. Serving and unleashing his strokes with power, Ajay Yadav raced to an effortless 6-1 verdict to wrap up the match for title.
Five feet and nine inches tall wild card Prabhamrit Kaur Sandhu, a plus 2 student of Government Model School, Sector 10, overcame Mehak Singh of Chandigarh in well-contested two sets 6-4, 7-6 (5) to wear the girls under-18 singles crown.
In the first set, Prabhamrit Sandhu was 1-3 down as aggressive Mehak unleashed sizzling ground strokes. Prabhamrit then changed her strategy to counter Mehak. The CLTA trainee resorted to defensive play and clinched the set.
The lanky Prabhamrit was again trailed at 0-2 and 3-5. Pressure on her brought out the best performance from Prabhamrit as she won three games in a row to take a 6-5 lead. Mehak then held her serve game to make it six-all. Mehak raced to a 4-2 lead in the tie-breaker. But Prabhamrit had the other ideas. She reorganized her game to clinch the set at 7-6 (4) and the match.
The Delhi players, top seed Nehal Sahni and Trivesh, took away the girls under-14 and boys under-14 titles, respectively.
Trivesh ended the challenge of Punjab’s Fatehdeep Singh in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to claim the boys under-14 championship. Thireen-year-old Nehal Sahni, an VIIIth class student of Tagore Public School , Narain Vihar, denied CLTA third singles title as the Delhi girl defeated Nikita of Chandigarh by 6-4, 6-4 in the girls under-14 singles title.
Commenting after winning the title, Prabhamrit said “after 3-5 down, I started good serve and used forehand winners which tilted the balance in my favour. My height was to my advantage in serve.”
CLTA General Manager RK Nayyar distributed the prizes. CLTA Director (Coaching) Gary O’Brien was also present on the occasion.
Results (all finals):Boys Under-18: Ajay Yadav (Chd) bt Akshat Joshi (Chd) 7-6 (4), 6-1.
Boys Under-14: Trivesh (Delhi) bt Fatehdeep Singh (Pb) 6-4, 6-1.
Girls U-14: Nehal Sahni (Delhi) bt Nikita (Chd) 6-4, 6-4.
Girls u-18: Prabhamrit Kaur Sandhu (Chd) bt Mehak Singh (Chd) 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Boys under-14 (doubles): Fatehdeep (Pb) and Jatinder (Chd) bt Ranjeet (Chd) and Trivesh (Delhi) 7-6 (3), 6-0.
Boys under-18 (doubles): Pranshu and Abhilash (UP) bt Ajay Yadav and Amardeep Singh (Chd) 6-2, 6-2