Oman tennis: Kira downs Kaavya to enter final of ISC tourney

Sports Monday 13/February/2017 18:30 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman tennis: Kira downs Kaavya to enter final of ISC tourney

Muscat: Kira Malakhova entered the final of the girls under-12 singles at the ISC-Muscat Pharmacy Open Junior Tennis Tournament organised by the Indian Social Club (ISC).
In an engrossing and tense semifinal, the talented Russian held her nerves to script a brilliant 8-6 victory to upset top seed J. Kaavya.
Kira displayed brilliant all-round control and energy on court. She broke Kaavya early and maintained her domination to take a commanding 7-3 lead in the best of 15-games match.
Kaavya saved two match points and and broke Kira in the twelfth game to stay in the match.
The gritty Kaavya once again showed good temperament and saved another two match points to reduce the deficit to 6-7. Frustration showed on Kira who had to hold back her emotions and served out the match for a place in the final.
In the final, Kira will play the winner of the second semifinal between Aayra Malhotra and Reya Attri.
Fourth seed Marwan Al Khanjari entered the semifinals of the boys under-12 singles after posting a convincing 8-1 victory over Arya Deshpande in his quarterfinal.
In first round action of the boys under-18 singles, third seed Zakariya Al Suleimani advanced with a comfortable 8-0 win over Surya Mariappan while fourth seed Yash Tanna coasted to a convincing 7-1 victory over Avigyan Bhattacharya.
Others advancing to the second round are Amaan Kazi who faced no problems in beating Varun Deepak 8-1, Ayaan Malhotra powered his way to a 8-0 victory over Harsh Shah. Omani player Eyad Al Khanjari put in a dogged show to scrape to a narrow 8-7 (7-3) victory over Sanskar Dubey while Hassan Haider was kept on his toes before overcoming Ethan Maclure 8-4. Muneer Al Rawahi defeated Gareth Maclure 8-4 to move to the second round.