BHUBANESWAR 27-Apr-2012 328
Vaidik Munshaw of Gujarat lived up to his credentials as a top-30 tennis player of India by clinching a double-crown in the Kalinga JCB AITA 1 Lakh Men’s Ranking Tennis Tournament, which was hosted by Odisha Tennis Association (OTA) here at Kalinga Stadium from April 23 to 27.
Top seed Munshaw first won the doubles title with Haryana’s Yogesh Phogat as his partner. They beat Delhi pair of Jatin Dahiya and Arjun Singh In the final 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. The champion duo received the top prize of Rs 6,300 and 20 AITA ranking points, while the runners-up pair settled with Rs 3,300 and 15 ranking points.
In the singles final, Munshaw prevailed over second seed Phogat 6-2, 6-3 to take home the top prize of Rs 13,000 and 25 AITA ranking points. Wild card Phogat contended himself with the runner-up prize of Rs 9,000 and 20 ranking points.
Saraskana MLA Ramachandra Hansdah handed over the trophies and cash prizes at the closing function. OTA secretary Madhusudan Padhi and tournament sponsor Kalinga Automobile’s Managing Director Tutul Das were present on the occasion.
Three players from Odisha got the chance to play in the singles main draw. Among them, Chinmay Pradhan secured direct entry, while Santosh Mallik and Adwithya Patnaik were given wild card. In the opening round, Pradhan beat his junior Adwithiya, while Mallik prevailed over Manpreet Singh Chawla of Delhi.
But Odisha`s challenge in singles category ended in the second round with Pradhan losing to Vaidik Munshaw 1-6, 4-6 and fourth seed Irfan Husain (TN) defeating Mallik 6-2, 6-2. Three more Odisha (Satirtha Patnaik, Abhilash Chandra Sahoo, Suraj Kumar Sahu) missed berths in the main draw after suffering defeats in the final round of the qualifiers.
Odisha, however, experienced better luck in the doubles category with two out of three pairs reaching the quarterfinals. Chinmay Pradhan and his college-mate Vijay Avinandan registered hard-fought win over Karnataka duo L Harsha and Akshay Kishore in super tie-break, while Adwithiya Patnaik and his coach Santosh Mallik of Gurukul Tennis Academy prevailed over Maharashtra pair of Yash Deshpande Sharvil Nawghare in straight sets.
But Satirtha Patnai and Ajay Nishank, the third pair from Odisha, went down to third seed Delhi-Chhattisgarh combination of Karan Salwan-Tushar Mandlekar in straight sets.
However, Odisha`s challenge in doubles came to an end in the quarterfinals with Pradhan and Avinandan losing to top seed duo of Munsha and Phogat, while Patnaik and Mallik going down to Karan Salwan and Tushar Mandlekar.
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PHOTO: Vaidik Munshaw (Right) and Yogesh Phogat during tournament in Bhubaneswar on April 25, 2012.
