Aakruti, Sohini shine bright with U-16 girls doubles victory at Nationals

Maharashtra’s Aakruti Narayan and Odisha’s Sohini Mohanty combined well to lift the U-16 girls doubles title at the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship, here on Friday.
The winners got the better of Nainika Bendram and Ishi Mahewari 6-4 6-4 in the title clash. In the boys doubles U-16 final, the duo of Vraj Gohil of Gujarat and Maharashtra’s Samarth Sahita overcame the challenge of Kabir Chothani (Gujarat) and Arnav Yadav (Uttrakhand) 7-5 6-2 to emerge winners. In the boys doubles U-14 category, Hruthik Katakam of Telangana and Haryana’s Tavish Pahawa beat Shaurya Bhardwaj and Ranvir Singh 6-4 7-5 to claim the winners’ trophy while West Bengal’s Aleena Farid and Odisha’s Aradhyaa Verma defeated Aahan and Akansha Ghosh 6-1 6-1 to take home the girls doubles U-14 trophy. In the U-14 singles competition, top-seed Hruthik extended his winning run to enter the final with a 6-4 6-1 win over Anurag Kallambella. Haryana’s Anandita Upadhyay beat Aleena Farid 6-0 2-6 6-4 in a thrilling semifinal of the girls singles U-14 category. Tamil Nadu’s Thirumurugan V overcame Prabir Chavda 6-4 6-4 to get one step closer to the title in the U-16 boys singles category. Delhi’s Aishi Bisht notched up a 6-1 6-4 win over Laxmi Dandu of Telangana to reach the finals of U-16 girls singles event.