Grand double for Saurav and Nupur

Patna, December 5, 2009: Patlputra Colony court proved lucky again for Saurav Panja. In an all-Bengal final, Panja overcame the challenge from Manoj Sewa 6-4, 6-2 to win Deshratna Dr Rajendra Prasad memorial all-India ranking tennis tournament title here on Saturday.

In the same venue about 43 days ago, Panja tamed his state mate Sewa 6-3, 6-3 to clinch Hubnet all-India ranking tennis title. Today was no different as Saurav won in clinical fashion.
Later, partnering with Manoj Sewa, he claimed the men’s doubles title defeating the Assam-Orissa pair of Anshuman Dutta and Chandrashekhar Mohanty 6-1, 6-2 and earned a grand double.

It was a bad day for Rani Smita Jain of IAF as she failed to break the final jinx in this court. Earlier in Hubnet tournament, Rani lost to Karnataka girl Shweta G Khakandaki 2-6, 0-6. This time Nupur Kaul (Mahrashtra) beat Rani Smita Jain 6-3, 7-6(5) to win the title.

As it happened in the men’s section, Nupur Kaul too earned a grand double. Pairing with Dipti Srivastava (WB), she won the doubles title defeating the Bihar-Delhi combination of Shilpi Jaiswal and Nehal Sahani (Delhi) 6-2, 6-3.

DN Sahay, former Governor of Tripura, distributed the trophies and prize money. Dr. Akhouri B Prasad, secretary BLTA welcomed the guests. Shishir Jaiswal (joint secretary, BLTA) and Kunal Aikat (chief coach, BLTA) were present on the occasion.

Photo caption: Nupur Kaul (top) and Saurav Panja (bottom) in action during their singles final in Patna on December 5, 2009.

Photo: Bihar Lawn Tennis Association