National Games: Zeel Desai, Manish Sureshkumar clinch tennis singles gold

The third-seeded Zeel was leading 6-2, 3-2 against Karnataka’s Sharmada Balu when the latter conceded the match due to an ankle injury.

Zeel Desai won the women’s singles gold when Karnataka’s Sharmada Balu conceded the match due to an ankle injury. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Home favourite Zeel Desai claimed the women’s singles title, while Tamil Nadu’s Manish Sureshkumar took the men’s singles crown in the tennis competitions of the National Games at the Riverfront Sports Development Complex here on Wednesday.

The third-seeded Zeel was leading 6-2, 3-2 against Karnataka’s Sharmada Balu when the latter conceded the match due to an ankle injury.

“I am extremely happy to win the gold today. It was special to play with so much support on the home turf. I am used to the heat of Ahmedabad and it helped me while playing against some of them,” said Zeel.

Yubrani Banerjee of West Bengal and Rutuja Bhosale of Maharashtra bagged the bronze.

Manish rallied to beat Maharashtra’s Arjun Kadhe 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

After winning the first set, Arjun suffered rib pain and could not maintain the tempo. Manish took advantage of the situation to win the next two sets.

Karnataka’s S.D. Prajwal Dev and G. Manish got the bronze medals.