Andhra men clinch Fed Cup tenni-koit trophy

Patna, June 11, 2009
Andhra Pradesh won the men’s title of the Federation Cup tenni-koit championships defeating Pondycherry in a keen tussle 3-2 at the Patna Central School courts here on Thursday.

The first match of the five-game thriller began on a disaster for eventual champions Andhra Pradesh as their star player Laxman Rao lost to Govinda Rajan 21-14, 21-14. In the second match Durga Prasad brought the parity beat Selva Kumar of Pondicherry 21-13, 21-19.

In the doubles Andhra pair of Laxman Rao and N Rakesh beat Pondicherry combination of Govinda Rajan and Selva Kumar 21-17, 21-14 to take a 2-1 lead. Govinda Rajan once again equalized the score with 21-18, 21-16 win over Durga Prasad. In the decider Laxman Rao beat Selva Kumar 21-10, 21-10 to clinch the issue for Andhra Pradesh.

In the play off matches of the sub-junior section, Maharashtra beat Tamil Nadu 3-1 to bag the third place in the girls’ section while Kerala beat Pondicherry 3-2 to win boys bronze medal.

Acharya Sudarshanjee Maharaj, who was the chief guest at the Federation Cup final, gave away the prizes. Tenni-Koit Federation of India secretary general, BS Nagraj, Bihar Tenni-Koit Associationpresident SB Prasad, Patna Central School principal SP Singh, vice-principal, OP Singh and Bihar Tenni-Koit Association secretary Neeraj Kumar Pappu were present at prize distribution function.

Results:
Federation Cup

semi-finals:

Andhra Pradesh beat Orissa (Laxman Rao Beat Devanand 21/12:21/7; A.Venkateshwar Rao beat Raj Tilak /10:21/9; Sandeep G Venkatesh beat Avijit Sinha & Binoy Jha 15/21,22/20,22/20)
Pondicherry beat Maharastra 3-0 (Govinda Rajan beat Suraj 21/17:21/16, Selva Kumar beat Mrunal21/12:21/14, Selva Kumar & Gowinda Rajan beat Badal & Suraj 21/7:21/10)

Federation Cup men’s final:

Andhra Pradesh beat Pondicherry 3-2 (Laxman Rao lost to Govinda Rajan 21/14; 21/14, Durga Prasad beat Selva Kumar 21/13:21/19. Laxman Rao & N. Rakesh beat Govinda Rajan & Selva Kumar 21/7:21/14. Durga Prasad lost to Govinda Rajan 18/21:16/21. Laxman Rao beat Selva Kumar 21/10:21/10)

Boys’ singles first round:

Abu Dahir (Pondy) beat Harish Godara (Rajasthan) 21/8:21/6. Arnab Santra (WB) beat Karan Singh (MP) 21/8:21/10. D.Vijendran (Kerala) beat Harendra Beniwal (Rajastan) 21/15:21/7. Ranjit Roy chodhary (Chattisgarh) beat Roshan Benara Orissa) 21/7:21/6.

Girls’ singles first round

Kulwinder Kour (Punjab) beat Akhila Ajaya Ghosh 21/10:21/15. Durga (Pondi) beat Renuka Saha (Chattisgarh) 21/6:21/2. Manasha Sarma (Kerala) beat Apprna Mishra (UP) 21/15:2/14. Itisree Ttima Malik (Orissa) beat Snigdha Patrika (MP) 21/7:17/21 21/3. Vai Bhrgavi (Maha) beat Priyanka Dnyal (Bihar) 21/6:21/5. Sinchana (Karnataka) beat Saritha Sinha (Bihar) 21/15:4/12. Xavier (Kerala) beat Rashmita (Orissa) 21/13 20/20:21/13. M. Saritha (AP) beat Pragya Sriyasthavn (MP) 21/4:21/3.

Girls’ team third position match
Maharastra beat Tamil Nadu 3-1 ( Vaibarushi lost to Nithya Laxmi: 18/21:21/14 9/21. Bhargavi beatKayathri 21/19:21/10. Bhargavi & Vaiba Rushi beat Nithya Raxmi & Uganya 20/22:21/19:21/17. Vaibarushi beat Kayathri 21/16:21/10)

Boys’ team third place match

Kerala beat Pondicherry 3-2 ( Vijewdran lost to Thami Zhvemdan 21/11:21/15. Amal Santosh beat Abudahir 21/18:22/21. Amal Santosh & Vaishak beat Thamizh Vendan & Abudahir 21/17:21/17. Amal Santosh lost Thamizhvendan 21/22:12/21. Vijendran beat Abudahir 12/21 22/21 21/11).

Photo caption: Acharya Sudarshanjee Maharaj (centre) giving away Federation Cup tenni-koit trophy to Andhra Pradesh tean members in Patna on June 11, 2009.