ROURKELA 29-Feb-2012 246
Youngsters from Andhra Pradesh asserted their supremacy by making a clean sweep of all three title in the AITA-OTA Under-14 Championship Series Tennis Tournament, which concluded here at the Sector-9 Tennis Complex today.
Kosaraju Sivadeep bagged a double, winning both the singles and doubles titles in boys’ category, while Sai Kirthi Behera claimed singles crown in girls’ category, defeating statemate Bhavya Ramineni 6-0, 6-1 in the final.
In the boys’ singles final, Sivadeep upset top seed and home favourite Avilash Mishra 6-3, 6-4. He completed the double by vanquishing Odisha-Bihar duo of Avilash Mishra and Nishant Kumar 6-3, 6-2 in the summit clash with statemate AK Rohit as his partner.
Most of the Odisha players stayed away from the tournament due to school examinations. Among those who took part, Alisha Samal from Bhubaneswar did well to reach semifinals before losing to Bhavya Ramineni 2-6, 6-2, 2-6.
The three-day event was organised by the Rourkela Tennis Association in association with Rourkela Steel Plant. Police DIG(WR) Y K Jethwa gave away the prizes in the presence of RSP Executive Director D Vasu, Sundargarh SP Sanjiv Arora, Sundargarh District Tennis Association Secretary Dilip Behera, tournament director Deepak Mishra and tournament referee Pravin Kumar.
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PHOTO: AP boy Kosaraju Sivadeep receives trophy in Rourkela on February 29, 2012.
