Prerna adds singles gold to kitty after doubles triumph
FOCUSED Youngster keeps calm despite commotion in the stands to beat Priyanshi; Manish bags men’s U-21 title
PUNE: A left-handed rival with a strong forehand or a bunch of excited kids, what can be more challenging? On another day, Prerna Vichare would have picked the latter, but Saturday presented a different scenario.
The Maharashtra girl had to tackle both to win the U-17 girls’ tennis final against Gujarat’s Priyanshi Bhandari 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 on the penultimate day of the Khelo India Games. She also won the U-17 girls’ doubles gold with Gargi Pawar.
After taking the first set 6-2 and having broken Priyanshi in the second set at 4-2, Prerna looked set to wrap up victory. However, an unexpected disturbance ensued. Just as Prerna got ready to serve for the seventh game, she stopped. A large group of school kids took to the stands, leaving the two players and officials present surprised. The match was halted for some time as the children wouldn’t stop talking.
When play resumed, Prerna’s focus seemed to have ditched her. Errors increased and Priyanshi pounced on the opportunity. She broke Prerna and then took the second set 7-5. The decider too was a tight affair as both lost serve thrice before the home favourite won 7-5 to seal the final.
“The conditions were tough, especially with the distractions in between. But I said to myself ‘I won’t let it affect me’,” said Prerna.
Looking fitter of the two, Prerna’s returns were more powerful as she dominated Priyanshi on way to taking the first set.
The left-handed Priyanshi was error-prone but it didn’t deter her from attacking the net. She took her chances and looked stylish in her strokeplay. She got the much needed break due to the brief stoppage of play due to the boisterous young spectators.
The third set saw both players struggle to hold serve. Finally Priyanshi held serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. The advantage didn’t last long as in the eighth game Prerna broke Priyanshi after a long rally to tie the scores 4-4. The decider looked headed for the tie-breaker but three errors in a row by Priyanshi in the 12th game gave Prerna the match, which she sealed with a forehand winner.
In the girls U-21 doubles final, Gujarat’s Zeel Desai-vaidehi Chaudhary beat Rashmika Bhamidipaty-humera Shaik of Telangana 6-3, 6-2. In boys U-17 doubles final, Gujarat’s Dev Javia-krish Patel defeated Sushant Dabas-divesh Gahlot of Haryana Maharashtra Haryana Delhi Karnataka Tamil Nadu
S6-3, 2-6, 13-11. 83 60 77 220 57 52 57 166 47 35 50 132 30 28 19 77 26 34 24 84 Silver Bronze
MANISH WINS
BThe U-21 boys final, however, was no such an exciting affair as Tamil Nadu’s Manish Sureshkumar defeated home boy Dhruv Sunish 6-3, 6-3. Dhruv’s serve and forehand initially found Manish on the wrong foot. But with a sleek backhand in his repertoire, Manish broke Dhruv in the fifth, seventh and the ninth games to take the set 6-3. Dhruv’s apparent frustration further hampered his performance as he lost the second set too by the same margin.
HARYANA’S GOLD
In U-17 women’s hockey, Haryana won gold beating Jharkhand 2-1. In the bronze medal play-off, Odisha defeated Punjab 3-2.
In basketball, Punjab won the gold medals in the U-17 boys and girls sections. In the U-21, Tamil Nadu won in both age groups.
In football, Jharkhand defeated Odisha 2-1 in U-17 girls final while in the boys title clash Karnataka beat Punjab 5-3 (1-1) on penalties.
The U-21 boys final stayed goalless in regulation time, with Mizoram defeating Kerala 4-3 on penalties. In U-21 girls, Manipur beat Tamil Nadu 4-3 (0-0) on penalties.
In table tennis, Gujarat clinched gold in boys U-21 while West Bengal won the U-21 girls doubles. Maharashtra won gold in U-17 girls and boys doubles.