August 27, 2007	Monday	Sha’aban 13, 1428

KARACHI, Aug 26: Thailand’s unseeded Nuttorn Tanchainant shattered the hopes of Pakistan’s Nasir Mushtaq in a three-set boys’ singles final to claim his maiden career title at the ITF juniors ranking tennis tournament at Karachi Club on Sunday.

Tanchainant, who is one of the three Thais featuring in back-to-back tournaments, received a round of applause from a holiday crowd as soon as he emerged victorious 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the 90-minute duel.

“It’s one of the happiest moments of my life because after making the final, I was confident of victory,” he told Dawn.

Nasir, who has made steady progress in the recent past, said although he had his chances, unforced errors cost him the title.

The local prodigy had many chances in the first set as he was 3-1 up. The left-handed Tanchainant held his serve and reduced the deficit 2-3. Enjoying a 40-30 lead in the sixth game, Nasir missed the winner only to be tied 3-3 that proved to be the turning point for him.

Taking advantage of his strong service, the Thai surged 5-3 up before Nasir made it 4-5. The Thai claimed the first set 6-4.

Playing an improved game, Nasir forced his way back into the match by taking the next set 6-3.

However, lacking in volleys, Nasir committed several unforced errors and at times had no answer to the strong backhand and forehand shots of his opponent who won the final set 6-1 to wrap up the match.

Earlier, Indian Ratnika Batra teaming up with Spain’s Carol Benito, accounted for the pair of Natasha Afridi/Soniya Dayal 6-4, 6-1 to land the girls’ doubles title.

Meanwhile, the main round of the second leg begins on Monday with the first round matches at 9.30am.

Four players have qualified for the main round. They are Sadanul Haq, Sunil Michale, Chandam Shaolin and M. Abid. In addition, four players Mandeep Yadav, Heera Ashiq, Ali Asghar Bandeali and Ahmed Aslam have got wild cards. The eight will join 24 ITF seeded players in the main draw.

Results:

Boys’ singles final: Nuttorn Tanchainant (Thailand) bt Nasir Mushtaq (Pakistan) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Girls’ doubles final: Ratnika Batra/Carol Benito bt Natasha Afridi/Soniya Dayal 6-4, 6-1.

Qualifying round two (second leg):

Sadanul Haq bt Ghulam Abbas 6-4, 6-1; Sunil Michale bt Samir Iftikhar 6-2, 6-1; Chandam Shaolin (India) bt Abbas Raza 6-0, 6-3; M. Abid bt Zuhair Raza 6-2, 6-1.

Monday’s fixtures: (main round)

Boys’ singles first round matches 9.30am.