Taste’L GSTA ITF: Aditya Khanna, Nitin Kirrtane, Mayur Vasant win doubles crowns; maiden title for Nikhil Rao

Aditya Khanna, Nitin Kirrtane and Mayur Vasant lived up to expectations in their respective age groups at the Taste’L GSTA $200 ITF Mumbai 2021. The five-day tournament, organized in association with L&T Mutual Fund, concluded at Practennis in Mumbai on Friday.

While all three fancied players had facile wins in their singles encounters, they were made to toil hard in their respective doubles finals. Aditya Khanna and his partner Vipin Sirpaul struggled in the 35 plus doubles category. Hot favorite duo Khanna and Sirpaul were taken the distance by Ajai Selvaraj and Rewant Datta. However, they held their nerves at a crucial juncture to win in the super tie-breaker.

Nitin Kirrtane and partner Nikhil Rao complemented each other in court to quell the spirited challenge from Anand Moorthy and Himanshu Bhatia. Kirrtane and Rao won 6-1, 6-2. It was the latter's maiden title.

The women’s singles title was won by Dr Jyotsna Patel, who defeated Nazneen Rahman 6-2, 6-2. Jyotsna took an early lead and maintained it throughout the match.

Top seed Aditya Khanna halts dream run of unseeded Sandeep Pawar in men's 35 plus singles Taste’L GSTA ITF final

Khanna was expected to be given a tougher fight by Sandeep Pawar, who managed to stay in the game in the first set. Pawar’s legs gave away in the second and he lost 3-6, 0-6.

Top seed Aditya Khanna beat Sandeep Pawar 6-3, 6-0 in the men's 35 plus singles final on Friday

Nitin Kirrtane and Mayur Vasant were just too good for their opponents N Choudhary and A Bharadwaj respectively. They scored identical 6-1, 6-1 victories.

The best match of the day was the 35 plus doubles with Khanna and partner Sirpaul. They won the first set 6-3. However, Selvraj raised his game in the second, controlling the net to guide his mate Rewant and win 6-0 to level the match. They dominated the super tie-break to race to a 8-4 lead, before it all unraveled for them. Rewant missed two sitters at the net and Khanna got two winners to help them come from behind and win 10-8.

Results (Singles all finals)

Women’s singles

Dr Jyotsna Patel bt Nazneen Rahman 6-2, 6-2

Men’s 35 plus

1-Aditya Khanna bt Sandeep Pawar 6-3, 6-0

Men’s 40 plus

5-Nitin Kirrtane bt 1-N Choudhary 6-1, 6-1

Men’s 50 plus

Neelkanth Damre bt N Kankaria 6-2, 6-2

Men’s 60 plus

1-Manek M bt A Bharadwaj 6-1, 6-1

Men’s 70 plus

1-Kumar G bt 2-Tahir Ali 4-3 (conceded)

(Doubles finals)

Men’s 35 plus

Aditya Khanna/Vipin Sirpaul bt Datta Rewant/Ajai Selvaraj 6-3, 0-6, 10-8

40 plus

Nitin Kirrtane/Nikhil Rao bt Anand Moorthy/Himanshu Bhatia 6-1, 6-2

50 plus

Bhushan Akut/Nishit Pndey bt Dinesh Laungani/Venugopal Manghat 7-5, 6-4

60 plus

Mayur Vasant/Rakesh Kohli bt Pawan Jain/B Negi 6-3, 6-1

Women's doubles

Nazneen Rahman/Priyanka Mehta bt Jyotsna Patel/Neha Shah 6-2, 6-4.