Kira captures girls U-12 crown at ISC

MUSCAT: Talented Kira Malakhova captured the girls under-12 singles crown at the ISC-Muscat Pharmacy Open Junior Tennis Tournament organised by the Indian Social Club.

In the final, the Russian, who will be ten next month, capped her brilliant run at the tournament with an emphatic 8-0 victory over Reya Attri to capture the girls under-12 crown. Reya had earlier advanced to the final after outplaying Aayra Malhotra 8-1 in the semifinal. Kira faced a stern challenge in the semifinal before holding her nerves to outwit J Kaavya 8-6.

The Al Riyami sisters, Saffanah and Tanaal will fight for a place in the girls under-14 singles final when they take on each other in the semifinal this evening. Saffanah qualified in second place in her round-robin group when she went down fighting to J Kaavya 6-8. At one stage Saffanah held a 5-2 lead before a brilliant rearguard action saw Kaavya claw her way to a 6-5 lead before wrapping up the match. The second semifinal in the girls under-14 singles will be played between J Kaavya and Madhu Mithra. Madhu Mithra qualified after winning two of her three league matches. In her last match, Madhu Mithra defeated Isha Pandita 8-1.

Omani player Aisha al Suleimani advanced to the final of the girls under-18 singles after securing a fine 7-5, 6-4 victory over Sanjana Girish in the semifinal. It was a match of errors and missed opportunities. Both players committed far too many unforced errors and the windy conditions did not make their task any easy. Sanjana squandered a healthy lead in both sets, 5-3 in the first and 4-0 in the second as Aisha played with grit and determination to pull the rug under Sanjana’s feet to enter the final.