All-Bengal clash in men's final

Patna, December 4, 2009: It’s all-Bengal clash in the men’s final of the Deshratna Dr Rajendra Prasad memorial all-India ranking tennis tournament at the Patliputra Colony courts here on Friday. Saurav Panja faces his state mate Manoj Sewa for the crown.

Just 42 days ago, the duo clashed for the Hubnet all-India ranking tournament title at the same court and at that time Saurav Panja tamed his state mate and higher ranked Manoj Sewa 6-3, 6-3 to win the crown.

In Friday’s men’s singles semifinals, Saurav Panja took a straight path on his way to second successive final beating Santanu Rajput (Delhi) 6-4, 6-4 while Manoj Sewa (WB) trounced Sagar Ahuja (Mahrashtra) 6-3, 6-3 to set up a final encounter with Panja.

In women’s singles, Nupur Kaul (Mahrashtra) stopped local girl Shilpi Jaiswal’s march 6-3, 6-2. Rani Smita Jain (IAF) beat Dipti Srivastava (WB) 6-1, 6-3 in the second semifinal to get an order for final assault.

In the women’s doubles semifinals, Dipti Srivastava (WB) and Nupur Kaul (Maharashtra) beat Shruti Jaiswal (Bihar) and Shruti Archita (Maharashtra) 6-4, 6-1 to enter the final. The Bengal-Maharashtra pair now meets the Bihar-Delhi combination of Shilpi Jaiswal and Nehal Sahani who beat Manuella Gomes (Delhi) and Disha Satish Agarwal (Delhi) 6-1, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

In men’s doubles semifinals, Anshuman Dutta (Assam) and Chandrashekhar Mohanty (Orissa) beat Hari Chidambaram (IAF) and Robin Das (WB) 6-2, 6-2. Saurav Panja (WB) and Manoj Sewa (WB) beat Parth Indordia (Gujarat) and Himanshu Mali (Maharashtra) 6-4, 6-3 in the second semifinal.

Photo caption: From top; Shilpi Jaiswal (Bihar), Nupur Kaul (Mahrashtra), Manoj Sewa and Saurav Panja (both Bengal) are in action during their semifinal matches in Patna on Friday.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui