Coach prevailed over youngsters as Santosh Kumar Mallick won the singles title in the Gurukul Men’s Open Tennis Tournament, which concluded at Mendhashal in Bhubaneswar today. The two-day tournament was organised by Gurukul Tennis Academy (GTA).

Top seed Mallick, who is also the director of GTA, emerged champion, defeating second seed Asish Kumar Parida in the final 4-6, 6-3 (10-8). Earlier in the semifinals, Mallik beat Vivek Mahananda 10-1, while Parida got the better of Avish Kansari 10-5.

Parida compensated his singles loss by bagging the doubles crown with Stevan Ankit Ekka as his partner. In the summit clash, the second seeded Parida and Ekka outplayed top seeds Santosh Mallick and Sangram Kumar Patra 10-4.

Eminent farmer Banka Bihari Das graced the closing ceremony as chief guest and gave away the prizes. Singles champion and runner-up received Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively. Doubles title winners and losing finalists were given Rs 2,500 and Rs 1,500 respectively.
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PHOTO: Title winners (L to R) Asish Kumar Parida, Santosh Kumar Mallik and Stevan Ankit Ekka with their trophies in Mendhashal on 3 January, 2021.