BHUBANESWAR 15-Mar-2012 366
A Krishna Rohit of Andhra Pradesh clinched a double by winning titles in boys’ under-12 singles and under-16 doubles categories of the AITA-OTA Talent Series Tennis Tournament, which was held here at the Kalinga Stadium Tennis Complex from March 12 to 15. Top seed Rohit, a trainee of Visakhapatnam-based Gopi Tennis Academy, fought back from a set down to beat second seed and local favourite Mahesh Mohapatra in the final.
The under-16 boys` singles final witnessed an upset with Kosaraju Sivadeep outplaying his Andhra statemate and top seed Sajid-ur Rahman in straight sets. Andhra Pradesh youngsters asserted their supremacy by bagging four out of five titles in the four-day tournament. Earlier, Sai Keerti Behera won the under-16 girls` crown, while Rohit claimed the under-16 boys` doubles title with Jharkhand partner Ekalavya Singh.
This was Sai Keerti`s sixth career title and fifth in Odisha. A student of Adarsh Talent School, Sai Keerti, however, missed a double crown when she and her AP partner BLS Rithika lost to Odisha`s Alisha Samal and Koyal Mishra in the hard-fought final that was decided via super tie-break.
