Thursday 18 / April / 2024
Muscat: Praneeth Raj hit the bullseye in his very first final to capture the under-10 singles crown at the ISC/Muscat Pharmacy Open Junior Tennis Tournament organised by the Indian Social Club (ISC) Muscat.
In the final, Praneeth, the No. 2 seed was not overawed by the occasion and did his basics right to register a brilliant 8-4 victory over top seed Issa Al Suleimani to win the under-10 title, the first of his career.
The two budding prospects played true to reputation maintaining consistency in their ground-strokes. Praneeth earned the first break for a 3-1 lead. Issa nullified the lead breaking Praneeth in the sixth game.
After a keen tussle, Praneeth broke twice for a 6-3 lead. Issa kept his hopes alive with a break in the tenth game. Issa’s game suffered under pressure as Praneeth broke yet again and served out the match for his first title.
Ibra-based Vivek Kolluru, the top seed in the boys under-12 singles took his place in the final. Vivek earned his place in the summit clash with an emphatic 6-0, 6-0 victory over M. Surya in the semifinal.
Top seed in the boys under-14 singles, Hassan Haider powered his way into the last four with a convincing 8-2 win over Vivek Kolluru in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Hassan will take on fourth seed Avigyan Bhattacharya who overcame Abdullah Al Raisi 8-4 in the quarterfinals. The other semifinal of the boys under-14 will be contested between Ayaan Malhotra who upset second seed Muneer Al Rawahi in the quarterfinals and third seed Sanskar Dubey who scored a hard-fough 8-6 win over Shlok Ail.
