BHUBANESWAR 23-Mar-2012 427
Chandigarh boy Paramveer Singh Bajwa and Haryana girl Himani Mor bagged a double each in the Asian Under-14 Tournament, which concluded here at Kalinga Stadium Tennis Complex today. Fourth seed Bajwa beat sixth seed Rain Pandole (Maharashtra) in the boys` singles final 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Bajwa completed the double by adding the doubles title with his Chandigarh-mate Param Pun. They beat Bijay Kumar Mohanty and Nitin Kumar Sinha in the summit clash 6-3, 0-6, 10-8.
Second seed Himani Mor clinched the girls` singles crown, outplaying top seed Sruta Kirti Gunuganti (AP) 6-2, 6-0 in the one-sided final. She went on to bag the double by winning the doubles final against GS Vasavi and Karman Kaur 6-4, 6-0 with Isha Budwal (MP) as her partner.
Title winners in the five-day Asian U-14 tournament gained 300 points each and the runner-up 200 points apiece. Among Odisha players Tanmayee Patnaik and Komal Vishakha garnered 45 and 17 points by finishing a creditable 10th and 16th respectively in girls` singles.
In boys` singles, Avilash Mishra emerged best among seven Odisha players, occupying the 19th position. He gained 13 points. His statemates Kumar Anurag Saran, Sourav Kumar Dash, Abhirup Sahoo, Swostik Pradhan and Nishant Mohanty finished 21st, 22nd, 24th, 28th and 29th respectively.
State Sports Department Secretary Manoj Ahuja presented the trophies at the closing function. Tournament director Damodar Pradhani, tournament referee Joy Mukherjee and supervisor Prabin Kumar Nayak were present on the occasion.
Though Odisha Tennis Association (OTA) deserved credit for staging a tournament of this stature for the second time in four years, shortcoming continued to appear in many areas. Infrastructure facility, especially the poor condition of two of the six courts drew criticism from players and onlookers. Cracks on these courts, tattered nets and incompetent ball boys caused lots of inconvenience for the players.
Though four courts are equipped with lights, the same was not used on the opening day. Towards the closing stages of the tournament, animosity between tournament referee Joy Mukherjee and supervisor Prabin Kumar Nayak created embarrassment of OTA and inconvenience for players, parents and media. ``Though this was an international tournament, the arrangements made by OTA were inferior than state-level tournament such as Nalco Open,`` commented a local player.
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PHOTO: Title winners of the Asian U-14 Tennis Tournament (L to R) Param Pun, Paramveer Bajwa, Isha Budwal and Himani Mor in Bhubaneswar on March 23, 2012.
