Double crown for Kirrtane; Nikhil Rao makes world strides

MUMBAI: Nitten Kirrtane was in sublime form as he wore down the challenge of Himanshu Bhatia to lift the 45+ men’s singles title in the Jayant Roy Memorial Mumbai ITF Tennis Tournament, being played at the MSLTA and Woodehouse Gymkhana on Wednesday.
Two breaks of serve in the first set saw Kirrtane win 6-2, before he blanked Bhatia in the second for a 6-2, 6-0 win.Kirrtane then partnered with Nikhil Rao in the 45+ men’s doubles to defeat Bhatia and Yati Gujarathi 7-5, 6-3 and completed a fine double.
A tough set that went with serves saw Kirrtane and Rao break their opponents in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead before holding serve to win the set. Kirrtane and Rao then took the second set 6-3 in spite of Nikhil Rao in considerable pain due to tennis elbow.
Nikhil Rao thus became the first Indian player to win titles in S100, S 200, S400 and S 700 in just 6 months and in his first attempt at them. He is also the No. 1 doubles player in India and has broken into the top in the world in the men’s 45+ category.
Govind Krisha Kumar ended Tahir Ali’s fine run and also prevented him from a double, winning the 70+ men’s final 6-4, 6-0.
Japan’s Mayuka Sakai continued her march to the title, defeating Prerna Apte 6-0, 6-1 in the women;s 45+ semis.
Results:
Men’s Singles 45+ Final
Nitten Kirrtane (IND) bt Himashu Bhatia (IND) 6-2, 6-0
Men’s Doubles 45+
Nitten Kirrtane (IND)/Nikhil Rao (IND) bt Himashu Bhatia (IND)/Yati Gujarathi (IND) 7-5, 6-3.
Women’s Single 45 (Wood House Gymkhana) Semi Finals
Mayuka Sakai (JPN) bt Prerna Apte (IND) 6-0, 6-1
Men’s Singles 60+
Mayur Vasant Manek (IND) bt Vikas Vij (IND) 6-1, 6-0; Ashish Sen (IND) bt Suresh Padmanabhan (IND) 6-2, 6-0; Pawan Jain (IND) bt Naresh Vij (IND) 6-0, 6-0; Sanjai Kumar (IND) bt Uttam Mane (IND) 6-1, 6-0; Rakesh Kohli (IND) bt Vijay Desai (IND) 6-1, 6-0
Men’s Doubles 60+
Sanjai Kumar (IND)/Ashish Sen (IND) bt Vijay Desai (IND)/Naresh Vij (IND) 6-1,6-1.
Men’s Singles 65+
Vinayak Gujrathi (IND) bt Sagar Engineer (IND) 6-2, 6-2; Mahender Kakkad (IND) bt Mohan Chavan (IND) 6-4, 6-2; Eknath Kinikar (IND) bt Dilipkumar Mehta (IND) 6-0, 6-0; Kishore Choudhary (IND) bt Raju Vlsn (IND) 6-4, 6-4; Yogesh Shah (IND) bt Surendra Singh Wadhawan (IND) 6-2, 6-3; Babubhai Panchal (IND) bt Narahari Kadekar (IND) 6-0, 6-3
Men’s Singles 70+ Final
Govind Krishna Kumar (IND) bt Tahir Ali (IND) 6-4, 6-0.