Fast developing local talent Kabir Hans bagged a creditable double by winning both the men’s open singles and doubles titles in the Major Sandeep Mohapatra Memorial 11th Odisha Open Tennis Tennis Tournament, which was organised by Khurda District Tennis Association (KDTA) here at Bhubaneswar Club from November 9 to 12, 2017.
Bubbling with confidence after a two-week-long training stint, under the guidance of coach Alexander Waske at Frankfort in Germany last month, Hans retained the singles title, defeating top seed Chinmay Pradhan in semifinals and fourth seed Satirtha Patnaik in the final by straight sets. He then combined with Ajay Nishank to capture the doubles crown with win over Ashutosh Das and Sathirtha Patnaik. Hans received a total cash prize of Rs 19,000.
The four-day tournament featured competition in six events, including three for veterans and there was no event for juniors or women. Aditya Sathpathy and Ameek Kiran Batth bagged the mixed doubles crown and a cash prize of Rs 7,000. The 45-plus senior men’s title went to former Odisha cricketer Pravanjan Mullick and his partner Rajpal Singh. Despite being much younger (born on 12th September, 1976), Mullick continued to participate in veterans’ event and the organizers gave him the unfair advantage, ignoring protest by other competitors.