Nalco Open Tennis: Mallick emerges new champion

Santosh Kumar Mallick emerged as the new men`s singles champion and Seeulee Upadhyaya bagged a double in the 12th Nalco Open All-Orissa Tennis Tournament, which concluded at Kalinga Stadium here today.

An AITA Level-1 coach, Mallick beat defending champion Ajay Nishank, also an AITA Level-1 coach, in the gruelling final to take home the top prize of Rs 6,000. Nishank, however, retained the men`s doubles title along with his potege Ansu Kumar Bhuyan.

Seeulee, a former trainee of Bangalore-based Mahesh Bhupathi Academy, clinched the double by winning the under-14 girls and women`s singles titles, which fetched her a total cash prize of Rs 8,000.

Adarsh Sahoo lifted the under-14 boys singles trophy, while the top honours in two veteran doubles categories went to Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, B N Mohanty (above 45) and V Raman, G R Das (above 55). Nalco Director (Commercial) Anshuman Das handed over the trophies and cash prizes at the closing function. Officials of host Bhubaneswar District Tennis Association and match referee S C Sarangi were present on the occasion.

RESULTS:

Under-14 boys singles:
Semifinals: Adarsh Sahoo bt Pratyush Chhottray 6-0, 6-4; Abhilash Chandra Sahoo bt Aakash Santuka 6-3, 6-2. Final: A Sahoo bt AC Sahoo 6-3, 6-1.
Under-14 girls singles: Semifinals: Seeulee Upadhyaya bt Koyal Mishra 7-1, Tanmayee Pattnaik bt Abhilipsa Rath 7-3. Final: S Upadhyaya bt T Pattnaik 6-2, 6-2.
Women`s singles: Semifinals: Nikki Gargi bt Tanmayee Pattnaik 4-0, 1-4, 4-0; Seeulee Upadhyaya bt Koyal Mishra 4-0, 4-0. Final: S Upadhyaya bt N Gargi 6-0, 6-0.
Men`s singles: Semifinals: Santosh Mallick bt Anshu Kumar Bhuyan 6-4, 6-4; Ajay Nishank bt Vijay Avinandan 6-1, 7-6(7-5). Final: S Mallick bt A Nishank 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.
Men`s doubles (Final): Anshu Bhuyan-Ajay Nishank bt Farhan Ali-Satirtha Patnaik 6-2, 6-2.
Above 45 veteran doubles (Final): Suresh Chandra Mohapatra-B N Mohanty bt Ajaya Sahoo-Ajaya Mohapatra 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(7-2).
Above 55 veteran doubles (Final): V Raman-G R Das bt Mahendra Beck-B K Das 8-2.
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PHOTO: 12th Nalco Open title winners (Left to right) Seeulee Upadhyaya, Ajay Nishank, Santosh Mallick, Ansu Bhuyan and Adarsh Sahoo in Bhubaneswar on December 12, 2010.

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