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Published 17 Aug, 2008 12:00am

Unseeded Saurabh claims ITF Jr crown

ISLAMABAD, Aug 16: Saurabh Singh of India overpowered compatriot Rohit Bisht in the boys’ singles final of the ITF International Junior Tennis Championships at the PTF Tennis Complex on Saturday.

In a well-contested match, which lasted two hours, the unseeded Saurabh surprised many while overwhelming Rohit to lift the title 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Saurabh took the first set 6-3 by breaking Rohit’s fifth game 30-40 by hitting two crosscourt winners.

Rohit, however, came back strongly, claiming the second set in the same fashion by breaking Saurabh’s eighth game.

In the final set Saurabh took full control, not allowing Rohit to settle down, with his powerful crosscourt and down-the-line winners.

He grabbed the final set 6-1 by breaking Rohit’s second and fourth game.

The title would help Saurabh get 30 valuable ITF International ranking points.

Meanwhile, in the girls’ doubles final the Thai pair of Peerraya Charoensirisutthikul and Kumkhum Luksika outplayed the Natasha Afridi (Pakistan)-Dina El-Harazy (Egypt) duo 6-4, 6-4 in a one hour 20 minutes encounter.

In the first set, the score was 4-4 as the players held their respective serves.

At this stage, the Thai pair broke the service of Dina to take the first set 6-4. In the second set, Afridi and Dina built up the winning lead of 4-1 by breaking the second game of Peerraya.

Changing the strategy, the Thais broke the seventh game of Dina and levelled the score 4-4, eventually winning the second set 6-4 by breaking Natasha’s ninth game.

The first round of the qualifying event of the second tournament was also completed. Ten matches were played on the opening day of the qualifying event.

The second round and final round of the qualifying event will be played tomorrow.

Results:

Junior Circuit I:

Boys singles final: Saurabh Singh (India) bt Rohit Bisht (India) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Girls doubles final: Peerraya Charoensirisutthikul/Kumkhum Luksika (Thailand) bt Natasha Afridi (Pakistan)/Dina El-Harazy (Egypt) 6-4, 6-4.

Junior Circuit II:

First round:

Boys singles (qualifying):

Gautham Sriram (India) bt Fahad Zafar (Pakistan) 6-0, 6-0; Mohammad Bajwa (Pakistan) w/o M. Nameer Shamsi (Pakistan); Vorachit Runglertmaneepong (Thailand) bt Ahmed Chaudary (Pakistan) 7-6(5), 6-4; Malik Abdur Rehman (Pakistan) bt Usman Rafiq (Pakistan) 6-4, 6-1; Abdul Rehman (Pakistan) bt Ali Murad (Pakistan) 6-0, 6-1; Jibran-ul-Haq (Pakistan) bt Mohammad Yahya Gabol (Pakistan) 6-2, 6-2; Imran Khan Safi (Pakistan) bt Hussain Imam Pirzada (Pakistan) 6-0, 6-1; Homaeer Zain (Pakistan) bt Azhar Qureshi (Pakistan) 6-3, 6-3; Mohammad Ali Zubair (Pakistan) bt Wasil Kaleem (Pakistan) 6-3, 6-4.Girls singles (qualifying): Alysha Razv (India) bt Uzma Zakaria (Pakistan) 6-1, 6-1.

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