[1]Ernakulam grabbed a bag full of firsts to emerge champions in the 10th RSC KCM Mather Memorial All Kerala Tennis Tournament that concluded in the Regional Sports Center in Kochi.
The host city made the highest point of the podium in five events while close rivals Thiruvananthapuram finished overall second with three firsts and on four occasions ending up runner-up.
The men’s and women’s finals were one of the closely contested events among the two districts and in both the finals the hosts edged out the State capital 2-1 in best of three sets, the most exciting of which was the women’s title race.
City girl Bhavya Shah gave Ernakulam the lead with a comfortable win against Begum Yasmine 6-0, 6-2, but the visitors attained parity through Uthra Venkatesh who defeated Sneha Susan 2-6, 4-6.
The duo of Bhavya and Uthra held their nerve and clinched the deciding doubles event 2-6, 6-2, 10-6.
The men’s final was also dragged to the decider after Rynold Timothy put Ernakulam in the driver’s seat with a 6-1, 5-4 win against Arun S.L. only to fall even after Mansingh Thapa’s loss to Arun Raj 4-6, 2-6 in the second singles.
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