Adwithiya, Shakti set up all-Orissa Talent Series final

Bhubaneswar-based Gurukul Tennis Academy (GTA) boys Adwithiya Patnaik and Shakti Ray set up an all-Orissa final in under-14 boys’ singles event of the AITA Talent Series Tennis Tournament at Raipur in Chhatishgarh today. In the hard-fought semifinals, top seed Adwithiya, who bagged his second Talent Series title last week at Bangalore, overcame fourth seed D Shiv Satwik (Andhra Pradesh) 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), while third seed Shakti came from behind to upset second seed MMK Ramineni (Andhra Pradesh) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. According to GTA director Santosh Kumar Mallick, both the boys are also performing well in the under-16 category and have good chances of finishing among top three in the final standings.