Bhubaneswar 18-Mar-2010 171
Former Davis Cupper Nitin Kirtane (Maharashtra) crushed Ajai Selvaraj (Tamil Nadu) in straight sets to win the singles title in the Rs 50,000 AITA Men’s Ranking Tennis Tournament at Kalinga Stadium here on Today. Kirtane, who bagged the doubles crown with Selvaraj as partner earlier on Wednesday, thus clinched a creditable double along with a total cash prize of Rs 8,000 and 35 ranking points.
This was Kirtan`s second success at Kalinga Stadium with the first (a men’s title) coming in 1995. ``I enjoyed my second tournament here and hope to carry on this form to other AITA and ITF tournaments,’’ said Kirtane, the 1998 Asiad bronze medallist.
In the singles final, the 24-year-old Selvaraj was expected to put up a stiff fight with his booming serve and lethal forehand ground strokes. But the 36-year-old Kirtane’s skill and perfection proved too good for the Chennai youth, who surrendered meekly.
Earlier in the semifinals, top seed Kirtane outplayed local challenger Chinmay Pradhan, while Selvaraj had to fight hard to overcome Bharat Bharadwaj (Haryana).
Results: Men’s singles: Semifinals: Nitin Kirtane (Mah) bt Chinmay Pradhan (Ori) 6-1,6-1; Ajai Selvaraj (TN) bt Bharat Bharadwaj (Har) 7-5,6-4. Final: N Kirtane bt A Selvaraj 6-3,6-0.
