Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Mr. Vijay Goel felicitates the winners of 22nd Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship at DLTA Complex
New Delhi, October 8 2016: The top seeds lived up to their billing as Vishnu Vardhan and Delhi girl Riya Bhatia annexed the men’s and women’s singles titles in the Fenesta Open tennis championship on Saturday.
Under 18 Winner Akanksha Bhan with Sports Minister Vijay Goel
Under 18 Winner Nitin K Sinha with Sports Minister Vijay Goel
Winner of the Men's single Vishnu Vardhan with Sports Minister Vijay Goel
Winner of the Women's single Riya Bhatia with Sports Minister Vijay Goel
On an action packed day with sports minister Vijay Goel in attendance as the chief guest, Vishnu Vardhan showed that old is gold as he served and volleyed well and mixed it up with some crisp groundstrokes to beat Siddharth Vishwakarma 6-3, 6-4.
Siddharth looked ill prepared against a seasoned campaigner. Vishnu used his experience in good measure and knew that he did not have to do too much against an opponent who seemed overawed by the occasion.
"It’s always a great feeling to be the National Champion. And it’s even more special to win the Fenesta Nationals without dropping a set in the whole week. The three lakhs prize money is a great motivation for me to travel for tournaments and training abroad,” said Vishnu Vardhan.
“I would like to congratulate the organising team for their passionate effort in handling such a huge event and would love to come back next year to defend the title,” added Vishnu
In the ladies’ singles final, Delhi’s Riya Bhatia used her retrieval tactics and counter punch game to win her maiden National title by beating Eete Maheta 7-6, (9/7), 6-3.
‘It feels incredible to be the Fenesta Women’s national champion of India. I would like to represent India in Fed Cup soon and also reach in Top 100 in WTA rankings. This was a great week for me and this tournament has helped me a lot in building my confidence and hopefully I will do good in my forthcoming tournaments as well,” said Riya.
In the boys’ under-18 final, Nitin Kumar Sinha beat Dhruv Sunish 6-3, 6-4 and Akansha Bhan beat Humera Shaik 6-0, 6-2 in the girls final.
Mr. Vijay Goel, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports said,” It is a great pleasure to be here today and I am thrilled to see the enthusiasm of the players and commitment towards the game. I would like to congratulate DCM Shriram Ltd., DTLA and the winners for making this event a success. “
Final results:
Men's Singles:
Vishnu Vardhan (Seed 1) bt S Vishwakarma 6-3, 6-4
Women's Singles:
Riya Bhatia bt Eetee Maheta 7-6 (7), 6-3
Boys’ under-18:
Nitin Kumar Sinha (Seed 3) bt Dhruv Sunish 6-3, 6-4
Girls under 18:
Akanksha Bhan (Seed 3) bt Humera shaik 6-0, 6-2