Humera Shaik is champion

New Delhi: Humera Shaik from Telangana continued her fine run in the final too by defeating her counterpart Rashmikaa Bamadipaty to win the Under-18 girls singles title on Saturday at the Fenesta Open Nationals tennis Championship held in New Delhi.

Humera won the finals comprehensively in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. After winning the title, a delighted Humera said  “I am so happy that I won the National Under-18 girls title. I played really great today. It was a good match, a great feeling to win the Nationals. So, definitely a great day for me.” 

Meanwhile, Siddharth Vishwakarma stunned title-favourite and top seed Arjun Kadhe to become the new national champion while Mahak Jain outplayed Natsaha Palha to defend the women’s crown.

Left-handed Vishwakarma’s impressive run culminated with a 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3 win over Kadhe, who is ranked 358 against a humble 1221st ranking of the new champion.

The gap in ranking was huge but there was no gulf as far as quality of tennis was concerned with Vishwakarma dictating terms in the men’s singles final. The 23-year-old from Varanasi moved the Pune-based Kadhe, who was part of the Indian Davis Cup team in Serbia as a reserve member, on both sides of the court, with his deep and powerful returns.

The winners received a prize money of Rs 3 lakh each while the runners-up got Rs 2 lakh each. Former hockey captain Sardar Singh presented the shields to finalists.

Maharashtra’s Siddhant Banthia won the Under-18 boys singles title with a 7-6 (0) 6-2 over Calvin Golmei from Chandigarh.

The Results 

Men’s singles finals: Sidddharth Vishwa-karma (6, UP) bt Arjun Kadhe (1, MH) 6-2,6-7,6-3.

Women’s singles finals: Mahak Jain (2, MH) bt Natasha Palha (GOA) 6-1,6-2.

Boys 18 singles finals: Siddhanth Banthia (1, MH) bt Calvin Golmei (3, CH) 7-6,6-2.

Girls 18 singles finals: Humera Shaik (TS) bt Rashmikaa Bamadipaty (TS) 6-2,6-4.