Manish Sureshkumar and Vaidehi Chaudhari asserted themselves as the top seeds, preserving their best for the final and cruised home as champions, in the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Sunday.
In bright sunshine, much in contrast to the first four days when rain had teased the organisers and players, Manish stayed intense right through the match, hardly giving an inch to Digivijay Pratap Singh, in racing to a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
“Am happy to win my first National championship”, said Manish as he heaped gratitude on coach Sureshkumar Sonachalam for guiding him to great heights.
For Digvijay, who had ended up in tears after losing a thriller last year in the final against Niki Poonacha, the wait continued. He did show enough fire power in his big game, especially the explosive serve, but Manish managed to blunt it with his sharp and energetic response.
It was a more authoritative fare from Vaidehi Chaudhari as she overwhelmed Sai Samhitha 6-2, 6-0.
“I was very confident coming into the tournament. I am glad that I won the title”, said Vaidehi who trains with coach Jignesh Rawal in Ahmedabad. It was another trainee of Jignesh, Zeel Desai who had won the title last year.
Sai was disappointed about not making a fight of it, but conceded that Vaidehi had played very good.
“I have lost to her thrice and not beaten her yet”, said Sai, who did have a memorable time, winning the doubles title with Smriti Bhasin.
In the under-18 final, a clash between two boys training at the National Tennis Centre under Zeeshan Ali, Denim Yadav tamed top seed Aman Dahiya with a sparkling game.
In the girls final, Madhurima Sawant played a robust all-round game to exasperate the top seed Suhitha Maruri on way to a 6-3, 6-2 triumph.
Wrestling star Bajrang Punia, who became a fan of Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe during the recent US Open, presented the trophies, as he inspired the tennis gathering by saying, “players who work hard, don’t lose”.
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