Young Odisha tennis player Kabir Hans created history as he became first from the state to reach the final of an ITF Junior Boys Tournament, beating eighth seed Michael Mathayomchand (Thailand) 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Uttarakhand Open at Shanti Tennis Academy in Dehradun yesterday.

However, playing eight matches in six days took heavy toll on Kabir, who lost to top seed Naithaolin Calvin Golmei (India) 4-6, 3-6 in the final today to settle as runner-up.

Bhubaneswar lad Kabir won three matches in the qualifying draw and four in the main draw to made it to the final. In the qualifying draw he beat Manav Sreekumar (India) 6-0, 6-2; Rohan Srivastava (India) 6-2, 6-3 and Rudra Kapoor (India) 6-2, 6-2.

Kabir started his main-draw campaign in style, upsetting the apple cart of third seed Aman K Patel (India) 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round. Carrying on with his winning momentum, the Odisha lad then prevailed over Sarthak Suden (India) 6-4, 6-3 in pre-quarters and fifth seed Arjun Channathimmiah Honnappa 6-4, 6-2 in the quarters.
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PHOTO: Kabir Hans (Right) with his semifinal opponent Michael Mathayomchand in Dehradun on March 23, 2018.