Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis: Unseeded Pawar to face Khanna in the final; Ramarao-Pendharkar win doubles title

Unseeded Sandeep Pawar continued his fine run to enter the men’s 35 plus singles final of the Taste’L GSTA $200 ITF Mumbai 2021 on Thursday. The five-day tournament is being held in association with L&T Mutual Fund at Practennis in Mumbai.

Sandeep Pawar raised his level of play to get the better of seasoned campaigner Ajai Selvaraj in the semi-final. Pawar will take on Aditya Khanna on Friday in the summit clash.

Top seed Khanna had a fight on his hands against unseeded Girish Mishra before winning 6-2, 6-2, a match much closer than the scores indicate.

DS Ramarao and Ajit Pendharkar lifted the men’s doubles title in the 70 plus category. The veteran duo prevailed over CR Gangadharan and Sudhagani Ramkrishna 6-4, 6-3.

Superior fitness level helps Sandeep Pawar win semis at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

Pawar’s superior fitness saw him take control of the match after losing a tough opening set 5-7. He ran down everything Selvaraj threw at him. In the end, the heat and a shoulder niggle got the better of Selvaraj, who conceded in the second set, trailing 3-5.

Pawar will have to maintain his form to challenge top seed Khanna in the final. The way Pawar has played so far in the tournament, it looks like the final will be an exciting affair.

It was a similar story in the other semi-final with Girish Mishra coming up with delightful volleys and down the line winners. However, Mishra faltered at crucial junctures and once again lost out to Khanna’s superior fitness.

DS Ramarao and Ajit Pendharkar won the men's doubles 70 plus final in Mumbai on Thursday

Khanna will vie for two titles on Friday, also entering the doubles final along with partner Vipin Sirpaul. The pair of Khanna and Sirpaul defeated M Gajanan and Sandeep Pawar 6-2, 6-3 in the semis.

Results (Semi-finals) at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

Men’s 35 plus results at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

1-Aditya Khanna bt Girish Mishra 6-2, 6-2; Sandeep Pawar bt Ajai Selvaraj (5) 5-7, 5-3 (conceded).

Men’s 40 plus results at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

1-N Choudhary bt 6-Sunil Lalla; 5-Nitin Kirrtane bt Himanshu Bhatia (retd)

Men’s 50 plus (Best of 4) results at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

Neelkanth Damre bt 1-Thongam T 6-0, 6-2;

Men’s 60 plus results at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

1-M Manek bt Ashok Ray 6-0, 6-1

Men’s 70 plus results at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

1-Kumar G bt 3-CR Gangadharan 6-3, 6-3; 2-Tahir Ali bt Tatavarty A 6-4, 6-2

Men’s 35 plus doubles results at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

Aditya Khanna/Vipin Sirpaul bt Mangela Gajanan/Sandeep Pawar 6-2, 6-3; Datta Rewant/Ajai Selvaraj bt Rahul Kejriwal/Aditya Sanghvi 6-2, 6-4.

Final results at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

Men’s 70+ doubles results at Taste’L GSTA ITF Tennis

DS Ramarao/Ajit Pendharkar bt CR Gangadharan/Sudhagani Ramkrishna 6-4, 6-3.