Dhairya-Lakshya emerge champs

Tribune News Service

Mohali, January 17

Top seeded pair of Dhairya Chadha and Lakshya Gupta overcame Kartikeya Saini and Raghav Choudhary in a closely-contested final to clinch the boys’ U-16 doubles title on the penultimate day of the Roots-AITA National Ranking Tournament here on Thursday.  

Chadha and Gupta won the opening set 7-6(5), but Saini and Choudhary kept up the fight and drew level with 6-4 win in the second set. The top seeds, though, banked on their experience to seize the decider 10-7 and claim the title.  

In the semifinals, Chadha and Gupta beat Gurpuneet Singh and Sankalp 6-2 7-6(5), while Saini and Choudhary overcame Rishi and Sannat Goel 6-4 4-6 10-5.

Lakshya, Hardik in final

Earlier, top seed Lakshya Gupta survived some anxious moments before beating Kanwarpreet Singh in the boys’ U-14 semifinals. 

Gupta took the lead with a 6-2 win in the first set, but Kanwarpreet came back into the match with a 6-4 win the second set. Gupta, though, held his nerve at the critical juncture to close the decider 7-5 and march into the final, where he will Hardik Kandhuja, who registered a 6-4 6-2 win over Umang Singh Cogi in the semis.