29th National Tennis Championship: Samarth, Prateek make winning start

Samarth Sahita of Maharashtra and top seed Prateek Sheoran moved into the second round in the boys u-16 category at the 29th Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship, held at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Monday.

Third seed Samarth faced Paranjay Siwach in the first-round match and notched up a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win in straight sets. He will now face Neel Kelkar of Maharashtra , who defeated Kristo Babu (Karnataka) by the same scoreline.

India’s largest domestic tennis tournament — supported by DCM Shriram Ltd., a leading business conglomerate, under the aegis of All India Tennis Association and Delhi Lawn Tennis Association, is witnessing the participation of exciting talents from various parts of the country fighting for the coveted crowns. The tournament has seen the participation of some of India’s top tennis stars in the past editions including Rohan Bopanna, Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri, Sania Mirza and Rutuja Bhosale among many others.

Prateek also made a fantastic start to the tournament. He looked in complete control from the first game of the match against Ribhav Saroha of Chandigarh and eventually won the contest by 6-0, 6-4 in straight sets.

Meanwhile, Haryana 's Aditya Mor (13th seed) beat Vanshraj Jalota of Uttar Pradesh 6-2, 6-1 to reach the second round.

In the girls u-16 category, top seeds Anandita Upadhyay ( Haryana ) and Ranjhana Sangram ( Punjab ) received byes in the first round.  

Besides the prestigious titles, the winners are awarded with prize money with a total prize pool of over Rs 21.55 Lakh and Kit Allowance in the junior categories up for grabs. The winners and runners-up in the U16 and U14 singles events will also receive a Tennis scholarship of ₹25,000 each.

The Boys and Girls Under-16 & Under-14 category qualifying and main draw matches will go on till October 12.