Indian men finish seventh in Deaf Tennis World Championship

Prithvi Sekhar and D. H. Prashanth registered wins over their Ecuadorian opponents to guide India to a seventh place finish in the Deaf Tennis World Championship.

''This is the first time we are playing this team championship. Next time we will prepare better and try to be in the top-4," said Prithvi Sekhar.

Prithvi Sekhar bounced back from a bad start to beat Deaflympics silver medallist Andres Vazquez 0-6, 6-4, 6-1 as India secured the seventh place with a 2-1 victory over Ecuador in the Deaf Tennis World Championship in Antalya, Turkey, on Thursday. After D. H. Prashanth gave a flying start by outplaying Jean Carlos Santana 6-0, 6-1, Prithvi stumbled to a bad start before settling into his fighting best. "Despite losing the first set, I played confident. My backhand down the line was working fine, and I went for volleys too. I was serving good, and was willing to rally to earn the points," said Prithvi, happy to have played a strong role. ''This is the first time we are playing this team championship. Next time we will prepare better and try to be in the top-4," he added. The Indian women, however, were beaten by host Turkey 3-0 and finished eighth.

The results: Men (seventh place): India bt Ecuador 2-1 (DH Prashanth bt Jean Carlos Santana 6-0, 6-1; Prithvi Sekhar bt Andres Vazquez 0-6, 6-4, 6-1; Dhananjay Dubey & Sai Chandan lost to Jean Carlos Santana & Andres Vazquez 0-6, 2-6). Women (seventh place): Turkey bt India 3-0 (Tutem Banguoglu bt Bhavani Kedia 6-0, 6-3; Asuman Saki bt Jafreen Shaik 6-1, 6-3; Tutem Banguoglu & Asuman Saki bt Jafreen Shaik & Bhavani Kedia 6-3, 6-3).