BHUBANESWAR 30-Sep-2011 370
J Mohit Mayur, a former junior Davis Cupper, clinched a double by winning both the singles and doubles titles in the AITA Men`s Ranking Tennis Tournament at Gurukul Tennis Academy, Mendhasal, near here today. In the all-Tamil Nadu singles final, third seed Mayur overcame overcame fifth seed Elwin Antony 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (8-6) to take home the top prize of Rs 6,500 and 20 AITA ranking points. Southpaw Antony contended himself with Rs 4,500 and 15 ranking points.
The duo earlier won the doubles final, also an all-TN affair, outplaying Rithvik Anand and Mohammad Farid 6-1, 6-2. The winners received a cash prize of Rs 3,150 and 15 ranking points. Former Orissa Chief Secretary D P Bagchi and Orissa Tennis Association secretary Madhu Sudan Padhy handed over the prizes in the closing ceremony.
Host Orissa`s campaign ended early with the exit of Adwithya Patnaik, Santosh Mallick in singles and Satirtha Patnaik-Farhan Ali in doubles. Adwithya, who got walk-over against Chinmay Pradhan in the firsts round, lost to top seed Sagar Manjanna in the pre-quarterfinals. Adwithya`s coach Santosh Mallick and Vijay Avinandan went down in the pre-quarters and first round respectively.
Orissa`s most experienced doubles pair of Satirtha Patnaik and Farhan Ali, who caused the biggest upset of the tournament by eliminating top seed Sagar Manjanna and S Veera Vasanth Venkatesh in the first round earlier, crashed out in the quarterfinals.
The six-day-long tournament, which carried a total prize fund of Rs 50,000, revived all-India men`s competition in Orissa after gap of 18 months. And thanks to the tournament, the beautiful infrastructure facility set up at Gurukul Tennis Academy could come to limelight. Situated over an area of about one acre in Mendhasal village, the academy now possesses three floodlit synthetic courts and a dormitory for 20 players.
But the speciality of the academy lies in the beauty and serenity of its location, which is surrounded by lush green paddy fields and plethora of mango, coconut and other traditional trees. The only disadvantage is that the location of academy is about 20 kms from the centre of Bhubaneswar. Reaching there will take you one hour`s drive on the extremely busy highway. Though there is a short-cut, using that bumpy road is sure to cause a lot of body-pain. But the organisers solved the transport problem by providing free bus service from Bhubaneswar Club to the venue and back at regular intervals.
G S Mastana, the dean of the academy, is confident that in a couple of years it will develop into a tennis hub of international repute. ``We will add a 100-bed hostel, cafeteria, swimming pool, club-house and gymnasium to make it a full-fledged tennis resort,`` said Mastana, a retired DIG of CRPF.
``The academy provides quality coaching and the cost is cheapest compared to any other academy of the country. Our goal is to groom talents in a natural environment and make tennis an affordable sport to pursue,`` said eminent cardiologist Dr P K Pradhan, who set up the academy in order to help his son Chinmay Pradhan play tennis to his heart`s content.
But it is an irony that the day before the academy hosted its first tournament, Chinmay, the highest-ranked player of the state, became horse-de-combat, twisting his left ankle badly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Prize winners and guests at the AITA Men`s Ranking Tennis Tournament in Bhubaneswar September 30, 2011.
