It has been an action packed week, full of quality tennis from some of the most talented players from around India, with each of these tennis players adding their own distinct touch of elegance to the tennis they played during these past seven days. Friday the 17th of July, 2015 marked the beginning of the Father Vincent Ferrer Memorial AITA Championship Series Tennis Tournament for Girls and Boys U-14 and U-16, with the sign-in bringing in young tennis players from all round the country.
Action shots from the main draws
The weekend saw the qualifying rounds for the singles category, in which all ASA Tennis athletes participated, of whom only three – N.G. Jyotshna, D. Pallavi and C. Narsimhulu, managed to qualify for the main draws. However, it was curtains for all of them in the first round itself, owing to the players’ lack of competition exposure.
The girls though, were motivated to excel in the doubles competition, registering with partners from outside the ASA. The boys on the other hand, preferred to team up with their ASA teammates. After their lackluster performance in the singles competition the girls had a point to prove, with N. G. Jyotshana, who partnered with Sonali Jaiswal, just missing out on the final with a loss in the semis. But D. Pallavi, who partnered C. S. Nithya, played exceptionally to advance to the finals of the U-14 doubles competition.
D. Pallavi and C. S. Nithya eventually battled sisters Kanika & Viveha Sivaraman in the finals, winning the doubles competition in the U-14 category with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 10-8. The doubles competition for the girls only saw the U-14 category.
The boys, however, competed in both the U-14 and U-16 categories. Nitin Pranav & Paranasivam Subhash beat Manish G. Kar & Deepak A. Kar 7-5, 6-3 in the U-14 finals. The U-16 title saw Suresh Dhakshineshwar & M. V. Vivekanand beating M. Nidhish & Arnold 6-4, 6-3 in the finals.
The singles competition in all categories was a tough one to call, fought between the top-seeded players. The girls’ singles competition saw a stellar show by Prathiba Narayana Prasad to beat S. B. Apoorva 6-3, 6-2 in straight sets for the U-14 title. Prasad also came back strongly in the U-16 finals against Yamalapalli Sahuja to win 2-6, 6-0,6-0 and take the U-16 title. The boys’ category saw S. Boopathy beat Subhash Paramasivam 6-4, 6-1 for the U-14 crown and Suresh Dhakshineswar Prasad Beat Rohan Reddy of Anantapur 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 to win the U-16 title.
The parents and players praised the organisation of the tournament. Everyone knew it was no easy job to organize close to 300 matches over 7 days and handle 300 players, but RDT’s ASA Tennis Academy team did a great job of ensuring that the competition, which witnessed some great young talent on display, went off without a hitch.
