Dahiya downs Shaikh to lift singles crown

Sixth seed Jatin Dahiya of Delhi overcame unseeded Abdullah Shaikh of Telangana in straight sets to clinch the singles title in the Rs 3.5 lakh MSLTA-IOC Khar Gymkhana All India Ranking Men's tennis tournament today.
Dahiya defeated Shaikh 6-4, 7-5 to emerge the singles champion while Dhruv Sunish of Maharashtra combined with Paramveer Singh of Punjab to beat Kunal Anand of Delhi and Aaditya Tewari of Madhya Pradesh 6-2 6-3 for the doubles crown.
Dahiya, who upset second seed Nitin Kirrtane of Maharashtra in the semi-finals, got off to a good start with a 3-1 lead following a break in the fourth game of the opening set.

Abdullah, who shocked top seed Kunal Anand of Delhi in the semi-finals, made amends for a slew of early unforced errors when he broke back in the next game that kept the opening set alive.
Games went with serve in the battle of the baseliners until Dahiya broke in the 10th game to win the set in an hour.
Capitalising on Dahiya's double fault, Abdullah broke in the opening game of the 50-minute second set. But Dahiya broke back for 1-1 as games went with serve with both players keeping the ball in play and careful not to commit errors.

Abdullah squandered a break point in the ninth game which allowed Dahiya to hold for 5-4. Dahiya sealed victory in the 12th game following a double fault by Abdullah.