Local favourite Mahesh Mohapatra emerged champion in the under-12 boys` singles category of the  AITA-OTPPA Talent Series Tennis Tournament here at Kalinga Stadium today. Top seed Mahesh beat second seed Amrutjay Mohanty in the all-Bhubaneswar final 6-2, 6-3. This was the sixth Talent Series singles title for Mahesh, who gained 15 ranking points for his latest triumph. Runner-up Amrutjay settled with 12 points.

Organised by Odisha Tennis Players` Patents` Association (OTPPA), the tournament was badly affected by rain. Making matters worse, competition in three more events _ u-18 boys, u-12 girls, u-18 girls _ were cancelled due to lack of minimum number of entries.

``This is exam time for school and college students. It is difficult for the players to appear examination and play tournament on the same day. Only six entries were received for the girls` event and it was not enough to make a draw,`` explained tournament referee Jatin Vatsya.

RESULTS:
U-12 boys singles: PQFs: Mahesh Mohapatra bt Bighnesh Nanda 6-0, 6-1; Abhishek Mohapatra bt Ashutosh Jha 6-0, 6-0; Sahil Kumar bt D Aryan Swamy 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Rahul Behera bt Ayush Pradhan 6-0, 6-0; Bisweswar Satpathy bt Sujal Mohanty 6-0, 6-1; Pratyush Mohanty bt Aryan Prasad Singh 6-0, 6-1; Abhishek Mishra bt Aryan Chand 6-3, 6-2; Amrutjay Mohanty bt Pratik Rout 6-0, 6-0. Quarterfinals: M Mohapatra bt AMohapatra 6-0, 6-0; S Kumar bt R Behera 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; P Mohanty bt S Mohanty 6-0, 6-0; A Mohanty bt A Mishra 6-1, 6-0. Semifinals: M Mohapatra bt S Kumar 6-0, 6-1; A Mohanty bt P Mohanty 6-4, 6-2. Final: M Mohapatra bt S Mohanty 6-2, 6-3.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Champion Mahesh Mohapatra (Left) and runner-up Amrutjay Mohanty in Bhubaneswar on Sept 20, 2014.