Double crown for Fariz in OTPPA tourney

Player-cum-coach Fariz Mohammad of Tamil Nadu bagged a double by winning both the singles and doubles titles in the OTA-OTPPA 50K Men`s Ranking Tennis Tournament here at Kalinga Stadium today.
Chennai-based Fariz, who imparts coaching to advance-level players, including former junior Davis Cupper J Mohit Mayur, won the singles title with a 6-4, 6-4 win over his younger opponent Siddharth Vishwakarma (UP).

Earlier on Thursday, Fariz claimed the doubles title with his pupil Raswant Ravi as partner. The Tamil Nadu duo prevailed over Haryana and Maharashtra combination of Pradeep Deswal and Maitreya Bhagat 6-4, 6-2 in the summit clash.

In the singles semifinals, third seed Fariz caused an upset, trouncing top seed B Sai Saran Reddy (AP) 6-0, 6-4, while Vishwakarma got the better of his UP statemate Aditya Deswal 6-1, 6-4. For all his efforts, Fariz received a total cash prize of around Rs 8,000 and 27 ranking points.

Odisha players put up disappointing performance in the tournament as no one could reach the singles second round. Second seed and local favourite Chinmay Pradhan made a shock exit in the first round losing to qualifier Vishwakarma in a hard-fought match that lasted nearly three hours.

Other four Odisha home players also suffered defeats in the first round. Among them, Ansu Kumar Bhuya and Asutosh Das, however, gave their opponents a good run for their money before losing in 1-2 sets.

Odisha Tennis Association (OTA) secretary Madhu Sudan Padhi handed over the trophies at the closing function. Host Odisha Tennis Players` Parents` Association (OTPPA) president Pramod Kumar Patnaik, secretary Jamini Mohan Mohanty and tournament referee Jatin Vatsya were present on the occasion.

This was the third tournament organised by OTPPA, which came into existence only three months ago.  The new body is also set to stage an AITA under-18 Super Series tournament here from June 7 to 9.

RESULTS:
SINGLES: First round: B Sai Saran Reddy (AP) bt Kumar BhuyanAnsu (Odi) 6-4, 7-5; Rohin Gajree (Har) bt Anay Patil (Mah) 6-0, 6-2; Abhishek Gaur (Del) bt Adarsh Sahoo (Odi) 6-1, 6-3; Rohit Rampuria (WB) bt Elan Elangovan (TN) 6-2, 6-2; Fariz Mohammad (TN) bt Kondri Srinivas (AP) 6-2, 6-3; Jay Soni (Guj) bt Maitreya Bhagat (Mah) 6-3, 6-3; Darshan Srinivasa (Kar) bt M Kavin (TN) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3; SD Prajwal Dev (Kar) bt Amarjyoti Deka (Asm) 6-0, 6-4; Aditya Deswal (UP) bt R Kunal Vazirani (Mah) 6-4, 6-4; Sahil Gaware (Mah) bt Santosh Kumar Mallik (Odi) 6-4, 6-3; Ravi Raswant (TN) bt Jairaj Sirohi (Har) 7-6 (5), 6-1; Raghavendra Subramanya (Kar) bt Asutosh Das (Odi) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2; B Vaishnav (AP) bt Yashad Ganatra (Mah) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; R Harnish (TN) bt Jaganmaya Panigrahi (Mah) 6-0, 6-0; Pradeep Deswal (Har) bt Vikas Choudhary (Raj) 6-4, 7-5; Siddharth Viswakarma (UP) bt Chinmay Pradhan (Odi) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5). Pre-quarterfinals: B S S Reddy bt R Gajree 6-4, 6-3; A Gaur bt R Rampuria 6-3, 6-4; F Mohammad bt J Soni 6-3, 6-3; SDP Dev bt D Srinivasa 7-6 (0), 6-0; A Deswal bt S Gaware 6-3, 6-3; R Raswant bt R Subramanya 6-2, 6-2; B Vaishnav bt R Harnish 6-4, 6-2; S Viswakarma bt P Deswal 6-1, 4-6, 6-0. Quarterfinals: B S S Reddy bt A Gaur 6-0, 6-2; F Mohammad bt SDP Dev 6-0, 6-3; A Deswal bt R Raswant 6-3, 6-1; S Vishwakarma bt B Vaishnav 6-2, 6-0. Semifinals: F Mohammad bt BSS Reddy 6-0, 6-4; S Vishwakarma bt A Deswal 6-1, 6-4. Final: F Mohammad bt S Vishwakarma 6-4, 6-4.
DOUBLES: Semifinals: Fariz Mohammad-Raswant Ravi (TN) bt Sahil Gaware- Kunal R Vazirani (Mah) 6-0, 6-3; Pradeep Deswal-Maitreya Bhagat (Har-Mah) bt SD Prajwal Dev- (Kar) 7-6 (4), 1-6, 10-7. Final: F Mohammad-R Ravi bt P Deswal-M Bhagat 6-4, 6-2.
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PHOTO: Fariz Mohammad (Left) and his doubles partner Raswant Ravi with their trophies in Bhubaneswar on May 30, 2014.