Tamil Nadu win gold in 38th National Games men's tennis team event, Maharashtra dominate women's final

Tamil Nadu ended Karnataka's dominance on Friday (February 7) to take a thrilling 2-0 win in the final of the 38th National Games men's tennis team event. Maharashtra, on the other hand, claimed the team women's event, defeating Gujarat 2-0.

During the men's team event, Abhinav Shanmugam played a vital role for Tamil Nadu, winning a hard-fought first rubber. He withstood stiff resistance before coming out on top with 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 over Karnataka's Rishi Reddy. The match saw Abhinav show a superb recovery in the second-set tiebreak before sealing the win in the decider.

---

Overview of 38th National Games tennis team events

The second singles match was where Manish Sureshkumar was able to gain the gold for Tamil Nadu, beating Karnataka's SD Prajwal Dev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Manish, having lost the first set, produced a turnaround in the contest with an aggressive baseline game and sharp net play, leaving Karnataka with no chance of making a comeback.

The doubles match, in which Karnataka's Prajwal Dev and Nikki Poonacha were to play against Tamil Nadu's Manish Sureshkumar and Lohith Aksha Bathrinath, became a non-event and was not played.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra asserted their supremacy in the women's team event with a 2-0 win over Gujarat. Akanksha Nitture set the tone for Maharashtra, defeating Zeel Desai 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, in a closely contested match.

This was preceded by Vaishnavi Adkar, who displayed her talent by defeating Vaidehee Chaudhari 6-3, 6-3. The gold medal was thus won by Maharashtra. The women's doubles rubber, which would have consisted of Pooja Vijaykumar Ingale and Akanksha Nitture of Maharashtra and Chaudhari and Desai of Gujarat, were not played.

To conclude the tennis team events, Tamil Nadu won the 38th National Games men's tennis team event, showing their prowess. On the other hand, Maharashtra won the women's event.