Vasisht downs Mayukh for tennis title

Top seed Vasisht V. Cheruku of Karnataka retained the boys Under-18 singles title with a well-deserved 6-1, 6-3 victory over third seed Mayukh Rawat of Uttarakhand in the final of the M.P. Prakash Memorial AITA Championship Series tennis tournament here Friday.

Eighth seed Harsha Sai Challa prevailed over the sixth seed Mahak Jain 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a baseline duel which last a little over three hours and bagged the girls Under-18 title.

Top seed Raghav Jaisinghani of Madhya Pradesh, who set a hot pace, defeated second seed N. Manaz of Tamil Nadu 6-1, 6-3 in the boys Under-16 singles final, while Rashmika Rajan of Karnataka and a trainee of Kinesis, took the girls Under-16 title as her rival Shrivalli Rashmika of AP, conceded a walk over.

The 105-minute boys Under-18 final was engrossing in patches as the talented Vasisht, a trainee of SAT Academy, played to a plan, attacking his rival with his big forehand and pinpoint down-the-line returns. He kept varying the pace and direction to throw that hard-hitting Rawat off his guard.

Vasisht raced through the first set with breaks in the fourth and sixth games to and won it at 6-1. But in the second set, he showed signs of nerves and went into shell as Rawat began his counter punch.

The Uttarakhand lad, who weathered four deuces to hold serve in the first game, broke Vasisht in the second for a 2-0 lead. Vasisht hit back to crack his rival in the third and fifth games and held his serve for a 4-2 lead.

Rawat, who was at the receiving end at this stage, began making unforced errors to lose the grip and dropped the set and match with a double-fault in the ninth game.

It was Vasisht's second major title this season on the junior circuit after victory in the National Series event early in January at the same venue.

The results (all finals):

Boys Under-18 singles: Vasisht V. Cheruku (Kar) bt Mayukh Rawat (Utk) 6-1, 6-3. Boys Under-16 singles: Raghav Jaisinghani (MP) bt N. Manaz (TN) 6-1, 6-3.

Girls Under-18 singles: Harsha Sai Challa (AP) bt Mahak Jain (Mah) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Girls Under-16 singles: Rashmika Rajan (Kar) w/o Shrivalli Rashmika (AP).