Date: 14/05/2018 – 18/05/2018
Venue: DLTA, New Delhi
Under the scorching Delhi heat, over 200 boys and girls (including the qualifying entries) from all over India, battled it out for a spot to play in the IC World Junior Finals to be held in Tokyo this October.
Many of the matches were fiercely contested, but were also played in the true IC spirit of fair play and sportsmanship. This was made amply clear to all the participants at the inauguration by Vikas Singh, the President of the international club. Interestingly, most of the spectators witnessed the ‘no let’ rule for the first time.
In the girls finals, the No. 11th seed, Sharannya Gaware got the better of Sandeepti Rao in straight sets. The first set was a tussle, but the second was a one sided affair for Sharannya. In fact, she did not drop a single set throughout the event. Interestingly, Sandeepti had qualified for the under 14 road to Wimbledon event held in the UK last year. This followed by her success now at the ‘Road to Japan’ event has indeed been a double delight for her.
In the boys event, the find of the tournament was the unseeded Nishant Dabas from new Delhi. Nishant raised a lot of eye brows by taking the scalps of the 11th, 7th, 4th, 2nd and eventually the top seed, to win the singles event. In the finals he was a set and 5-3 up in the second, when the top seed Krishan Hooda came into his own, to even the match. However, Nishant composed himself, stayed in the ‘here and now’ and went back to the aggressive play he had employed in the first set. This rethink and approach helped him to pull through 6-2 in the third. This was certainly a path breaking performance for one of the youngest entrants.
Results (finals):
Girls singles: Sharannya Gaware beat Sandeepti Rao 7-5, 6-0
Boys singles: Nishant Dabas beat Krishan Hooda 6-1, 5-7, 6-2
Girls doubles: Sanya Singh & Srujana Rayarala beat Chandrika Joshi & Kashish Bhatia 6-2, 6-1
Boys doubles: Dhruv Tangri & Udayyyir Singh beat Divesh Gahlot & Sushant Dabas 0-6, 6-1, 10-8
We now have the following four to represent the IC of India at the Compass IC World Junior finals to be held in Tokyo this October:
Girls: Sharannya Gaware & Sandeepti Singh Rao.
Boys: Nishant Dabas and Krishan Hooda.
In the event of an injury or any unforeseen circumstances, the losing higher ranked semi finalist (as of the 21stof may 2018) will be the substitute.
A special thanks to AITA (All India Tennis Association) for helping conduct this event on behalf of the IC Also to Col Chauhan and the Khanna Brothers, Ashish and Aditya, who incidentally double up as IC Executive Committee members as well.
Sanjeev Kassal
Honorary Secretary IC India
