Pune: Anikta Raina loses in singles semis, wins doubles title

PUNE: Ankita Raina, city’s premier woman tennis player at world No. 169, lost the singles semifinal but won the doubles title in the $25,000 ITF tennis event in Gurgaon on Saturday.
No. 2 seed Ankita lost to No. 3 seed Viktoria Morvayova of Serbia 6-3, 6-4 and then paired with Priska Nugronho to beat Japan’s Momoko Kobori and Misaki Matsuda 3-6, 6-0, [10-6].
In the other singles semis, Sahaja Yamalapalli defeated Ekateriba Yashina 6-0, 6-1.
One-sided matches, rain dampen PDFA day
One-sided matches, bordering on no contests, was the order of the day in the U-14 PDFA League at the SSPMS ground on Saturday.
In four of the five matches, the winners scored five more goals that went unanswered. And there was a walkover in the other game.
The First Division matches scheduled at City Sports Arena, Moshi, were abandoned owing to overnight rain that left the pitch in insuitable condition, according to a press release.
Results: At SSPMS, U-14 League: Deccan XI: 7 (Ojas Khadilkar 14’, 41’; Ameya Deshpande 38’, 48’; Vihan Hardikar 8’, 22’; Nakul Hardikar 33’) bt Daksh FA: 0. Rising Pune FC: 6 (Aaradhya Agar 19’; Shounak Chouta 24’; Aryan Suryawanshi 33’; Taiffil Attar 36’, 47’; Durvesh Mahajan 47’) bt Durga FA: 0. City FC Pune: 5 (Ganesh Pawar 2’; Shreyash Sahastrabudhe 3’, 31’; Meet Patel 27’; Arman Ahmed 48’) bt Greenbox Chetak FC: 0. Barca Academy: 8 (Aditya Marathe 4’, 22’, 25’; Rehan Khan 21’; Yuvraj Singh 32’; Yatharth Joshi 34’; Ishaan Jadhav 47’) bt Chonde Patil FA: 0; Mathew FA w/o Urban Intensity.