Niki Poonacha beat Digvijay Pratap Singh to win the men’s singles title while Zeel Desai got the better of Sharmada Balu in the women’s singles final.

Young Indian tennis players Niki Poonacha and Zeel Desai won the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively at the National Tennis Championships 2021 on Saturday.

The tournament was held at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) Complex in the national capital.

The 26-year-old Niki Poonacha won his third national title after beating Digvijay Pratap Singh 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the final.

Niki Poonacha, who trains at the Rohan Bopanna Academy in Bengaluru, saved three match points in the second set to mount a comeback after being a set down.

London 2012 Olympian and 2010 Asian Games medallist Vishnu Vardhan was knocked out in the round of 16 of the men’s singles.

It was a second national crown in as many days for Niki Poonacha, who had won the men’s doubles title with Prajwal Dev on Friday. Poonacha-Dev beat Chandril Sood and Lakshit Sood 6-2, 7-6 in the final.

In the women’s singles final, Zeel Desai also mounted a comeback of her own against Sharmada Balu.

After being down 1-3 in the first set, Zeel Desai won the next 11 games on the trot to win 6-3, 6-0.

However, Sharmada Balu did taste victory in the national tennis championship as she won the women’s doubles title with partner Sravya Chilakalapudi on Friday.

The duo beat the pair of Vaidehi Chaudhari and Mihika Yadav 6-2, 6-3 in the final.

The singles events had 64 players each while 32 pairs each took part in the doubles categories.

source: http://www.olympics.com / Olympics.com / Home> Tennis / by Rahul Venkat / October 30th, 2021