Finals!!!!!

FINAL DAY:

In the Girls Under 12, Mahima Omkar got the better of Meera Patwardhan 8-2. Meera was using the court well but made mistakes on crucial points. Mahima was more consistent of the two and got through fairly easily in the end.

In the Girls Under 14, it was Mahima Omkar once again who came on top against Saloni Ghodke. Mahima was unstoppable and blasted her elder opponent with comfortable ease.

Aditya Gokhale was the standout performer of the day, prevailing over Yash Lele in the Under 12 category. In the Under 14 event, Aditya was trailing Divyat Rungta 4-1 but fought back valiantly to win 8-5.

The finalists of all the singles categories will get a 4 day coaching session with Nitin Kirtane in the last week to May 2009. Dates will be announced soon. Along with the finalists, some players who impressed in the earlier rounds have also been selected. The following players have been selected-

1. Mahima Omkar
2. Sayali Ghodke
3. Meera Patwardhan
4. Devyani Menkar
5. Aryalee Chavan
6. Shristi Daas
7. Neha Ghare
8. Ayush Prabhune
9. Rohan Bhoge
10. Sachin Shah
11. Prathamesh Lonkar
12. Yash Lele
13. Shahu Patil
14. Brent Dixon
15. Mihir Damle
16. Aditya Deshpande
17. Rahil Gajare
18. Aditya Gokhale
19. Divyat Rungta
20. Ashwin Date
21. Rohan Bhave

Results of the finals:

Girls Under 12:

Mahima Omkar bt. Meera Patwardhan: 8-3

Girls Under 14:

Mahima Omkar bt. Saloni Ghodke: 8-1

Boys Under 12:

Aditya Gokhale bt. Yash Lele: 8-2

Boys Under 14:

Aditya Gokhale bt. Divyat Rungta: 8-5

Boys Under 16 Doubles:

Aditya Deshpande/ Rahul Gajare bt. Mihir Damle/ Brent Dixon: 9-8 (9-7)

Girls Under 16:

Saloni Ghodke/Suprabha Pujari bt. Saee Mhaske/ Brahmani Pingle: 8-6


Last but not the least no tournament can be successful without a team effort. Thanks to Kishor Paranjape for being there scheduling matches and helping with the draw, Sudheer Ranade & Dr. Nitin Bhave for scheduling matches, Madan Gokhale for filling in when we were not around.

For umpiring the matches – Aditya Deshpande, Ashwin Date, Vedant Girme, Aditya Gokhale, Nupur Shinde, Shristi Dass, Sammit Ranade and other players and parents.

Thanks to Dr. Jaideep Date, Tennis Secretary, Deccan Gymkhana for all the support.

For photos from the last 3 days click http://www.flickr.com/photos/24086292@N05/sets/72157617899099912/

Mukund Joshi
Tournament Director