Shreeniti completes golden double, Fazal wins boys’ title at KSLTA World Tennis Junior J30

Bengaluru: Local lass Shreeniti Chowdhury capped a remarkable week at the KSLTA World Tennis Junior J30 Bengaluru by completing a golden double, winning both the girls’ singles and doubles titles at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium here on Saturday.

The 15-year-old fourth seed first overcame fellow Citymate Aahida Singh 6-4, 6-2 in the singles final and then returned to partner Riddhi Shinde to win a thrilling girls’ doubles final against Zoha Qureshi and Deepthi Venkatesan 4-6, 6-2, 13-11.

In the boys’ singles final, sixth seed Fazal Ali Meer defeated third seed Niyanth Badrinarayanan of the USA 6-4, 4-6, 2-0 (retired). The pair of Chukka Lakshya Vardhan and Parthiv Nallagundla captured the doubles title after they defeated Nithinbarath KS and Abhivadya Misra 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 10-4 in another closely fought final.

Shreeniti, a Class 10 student of DPS East School who trains at HLTA, found it was the perfect culmination to an outstanding fortnight. She arrived in Bengaluru after winning the ITF J60 title in Hyderabad last week and followed it up by sweeping both titles at the J30.

The 15-year-old’s singles final against fifth seed Aahida was closely fought, particularly in the opening set where she was down 0-3, losing her serve in the first and 3rdgames. Shreeniti fought back with her sharp returns while attacking the net often and levelled at 4 and won the next two games to take the opening set 6-4.

She carried the momentum into the second set, breaking Aahida early and taking control of the match. Aahida fought hard, but Shreeniti maintained her composure to close out the set 6-2 and claim the singles crown.

The boys’ final was a closely fought contest before Niyanth was forced to retire with cramps early in the deciding set. Fazal made a strong start, breaking Niyanth in the second game to lead 2-0. Niyanth fought back, and the two settled into a tight exchange, with both players producing quality tennis.

Fazal regained the advantage to lead 4-3 before Niyanth levelled at 4-4, breaking Fazal’s serve in the ninth game and holding serve to take the opening set 6-4.

Niyanth kept the momentum going into the second set and appeared to have gained the upper hand after taking a 4-2 lead, but then began to suffer from cramps. Despite the physical discomfort, he continued to fight, but was unable to maintain his earlier intensity. Fazal capitalised on the situation to win the next four games and take the set 6-4.

The deciding set was short-lived. Fazal held his opening serve and then broke Niyanth to move 2-0 ahead, after which the American was forced to retire, handing Fazal the boys’ singles title.

–IANS