Anshuman wins Under 14 title

Manama : Indian Anshuman Sonawane defeated Italian Alessandro Bellato in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 to clinch the Boys 14 years and under singles category yesterday in coolish conditions on tenth and penultimate day of the 22nd Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) Juniors Open Tennis Championship 2017 at the Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) premises in Juffair.

The opening set began with Anshuman winning the opening service game and this trend continued with the first five games all with serve as Anshuman led 3-2, then won a break of serve for a 4-2 lead.

Alessandro who is the son of Italian Ambassador to Bahrain, Domenico Bellato then won back a break to narrow the deficit to 3-4, but the next three games ended up with breaks of serve as Anshuman clinched the opening set.

In the second set, Anshuman raced to a 4-0 lead thanks to a couple of service breaks and also taking advantage of Alessandro conceding too many double faults and a weak second serve.

Alessandro had a brief glimpse of hope when he broke his opponent in the fifth game, but just like the first set the final games all ended in service breaks as Anshuman triumphed and claimed the title. On the way to the final, Anshuman came from a set down to defeat Mohammed Khalid 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 in the quarter finals and then beat top seed Issa Al Esa again coming from a set down to win 3-6, 6-4, 10-8, while Alessandro progressed thanks to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Sulaiman Al Gosaibi in the Round of 16, then advanced against top seed Ali Sharif after he retired with the score 4-0 in the quarter final and then receiving a walkover win over Mohammed Al Khan in the
semi-finals.

This championship which concludes today with four finals has been held under the patronage of BBK Chief Executive Officer, Reyadh Yousif Sater featuring around 60 players in three boys and two girls age categories and two Unisex categories with 90 players in the fray.

Today’s schedule: (3.45pm): 

Unisex 8 years and under: 

(1)Riyaan Ahmed vs (2)Joshua Jacob. 

(4pm): Unisex 10 years and under: 

(1)Tristan Manners vs (2) Rushikesh Sonawane. 

Girls 14 years and under: 

(1)Sophie De Boers vs Maya Bseisu. 

(5pm): Boys 18 years and under: 

(1)Yousef Ashraf vs (2)Hamad Abdul A’al.