Abhilipsa, Komal win KVS National tennis medals

Bhubaneswar girls Abhilipsa Rath and Komal Vishakha returned home today after winning a gold and a silver in the tennis competition of the 40th Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan National Sports Meet, which concluded at New Delhi to days ago. Abhilipsa, a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya No 1, claimed the gold medal in the under-14 girls singes event, defeating Niharika (Hyderabad) 4-1 in the final. She earlier won three matches against V Reddy (Bangalore), Vabhari (Mumbai) and Ankita (Jaipur). Abhilipsa and Komal secured the silver medal in under-14 girls’ team competition, beating Lucknow 2-1 in the semifinals. But in the final, the Bhubaneswar duo put up stiff fight before losing to their opponents from Chennai 1-2. Earlier in the quarterfinals, Bhubaneswar blanked Bangalore 2-0. Komal, a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya No 2, reached quarterfinals in under-14 singles before losing to J Saranya of Chennai 1-4. But in the final of the team event, she beat Saranya 6-2 to avenge her earlier defeat. PHOTO: Top: Komal Vishakha (Left) and Abhilipsa Rath display their KVS National medals in Bhubaneswar on Nov 22, 2009. Bottom: Abhilipsa Rath and Komal Vishakha with coach Siba Shankar Parida in Bhubaneswar on Nov 22, 2009.