Odisha pair of Ansu Kumar Bhuyan and Kabir Hans won the doubles title in the Gurukul AITA-OTA Men’s 1 Lakh Ranking Tennis Tournament, which was held at Gurukul Resorts Tennis Complex, Mendhasal, Bhubaneswar from 13 to 18 May, 2019.

Bhubaneswar combination of Ansu and Kabir beat top seeded Tamil Nadu-Haryana pair of Siddharth Arya and Vilasier Khate in the hard-fought final 7-5, 4-6, 10-4. This happened to be the first AITA men’s doubles title for Kabir.

Odisha No 1 Ansu also had the opportunity to clinch a double crown by reaching the singles final. But he eventually finished runner-up by losing to qualifier G Sai Karteek Reddy of Telangana in the final 3-6, 3-6.

A total of 52 players from 16 states participated in the tournament, which was sponsored by Department of Sports & Youth Services, Government of Odisha. Singles title winner and runner-up earned 20 and 15 AITA ranking points along with prize money of Rs 12,500 and Rs 8,400 respectively.

The doubles champions and runners-up became richer by 15 and 10 AITA ranking points along with prize money of Rs 6,200 and Rs 3,800 respectively.

Tournament Director Pradip Pradhan gave away the trophies and cash prizes in presence of Tournament Referee Jatin Batsya, Odisha Tennis Association (OTA) Manager Prakash Pattnaik and Gurukul Resorts Director Chinmay Pradhan.
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PHOTO: Doubles champions Ansu Kumar Bhuyan (L) and Kabir Hans with their trophies at Mendhasal on 18 May 2019.