Indonesia, India claim ITF Junior Team titles
Gwen Emily Kuruniavin
Junior players from Indonesia and India emerged champions in the Girls and Boys categories respectively of the ITF Asia/Oceania Under-14 Pre-Qualifying Junior Tennis Team Championships when they came out victorious in the two finals played at the SLTA tennis courts in Greenpath, Colombo yesterday.
The Indonesian girls, spearheaded by Gwen Emily Kuruniavin, underwent some anxious moments against Nepal before overcoming them by 2-1. Kuruniavin, who won her Singles match earlier, partnered with Assyifa Khansa Putri to win the Doubles match as Nepal’s Swastika Bista beat her opponent in the other Singles game to prevent Indonesia from recording a clean sweep.
In the boy’s category, the Indian juniors had little difficulty in brushing off the challenge of host country Sri Lanka by 2-0. Haruthika Kathakam beat Risith Somaratna 2-0 while Thavish Pahawa beat Ashlin de Silva 2-0 in the two Singles games to record an early win.
The champions saw the participation of 35 countries comprising 21 in the boys and 14 in the girls’ category. The four finalists in the two categories qualified to participate in the forthcoming second round qualifying junior tournament scheduled to be played next month in Malaysia.
| RESULTS | |
| Girls: Indonesia beat Nepal 2-1 Singles: Swastika Bista (Nepal) beat Callista Roshiana (Indonesia) 2-0 (6/1, 6/4); Gwen Emily Kuruniavin (Indonesia) beat Shivali Gurung (Nepal) 2-1 (5/7, 7/5, 10/6) Doubles: Gwen Emily Kuruniavin/Assyifa Khansa Putri (Indonesia) beat Swastika Bista/Shivali Gurung (Nepal) 2-0 (6/2, 6/4) Boys: India beat Sri Lanka 2-0 Singles: Haruthika Kathakam (India) beat Risith Somaratna (Sri Lanka) 2-0 (6/1, 6/0); Thavish Pahawa (India) beat Ashlin de Silva (Sri Lanka) 2-0 (6/2, 6/1) |