Ajay Nishank and Lalit Das provided a much needed boost for soft-tennis in Orissa by winning the men’s doubles title in the 7th Senior National Championship, which concluded at Kalinga Stadium today. This was the only medal won by Orissa. The tournament was a good occasion to popularize soft-tennis in the state. But the opportunity was squandered because of amateurish management of the National event. TOURNAMENT REPORT: Ajay and Lalit capitalised on their vast experience in tennis as players-cum-coaches to script an emphatic 4-0 win over Madhya Pradesh pair of Khuswant Singh and Rahul Singroli in the final. It was a creditable achievement for Ajay and Lalit, considering the fact that they played soft tennis for the first time in their life just a day before the National championship. The last gold medal of the five-day championship went to Madhya Pradesh duo of Anjali Thakur and Rahul Singroli, who achieved it in mixed doubles, beating Navneet and Taruka of Uttar Pradesh 4-2 in the summit clash. Earlier in the semifinals, Anjali and Rahul got the better of Asad and Priyanka (Maharashtra) 3-1, while Navneet and Taruka prevailed over Jitendra and Likhita (Delhi) by identical margin. Bhopal girl Anjali clinched a golden double by addeding the mixed doubles crown to the one she won in women’s doubles earlier on Wednesday. Madhya Pradesh lifted the trophy as overall champions, bagging two golds, one silver and four bronze medals. COMMENTS: Soft-tennis has similarities with tennis. The sport is popular mainly in Asia and particularly Japan. In recent years it has also been accepted by Europe and gradually by other continents. Soft-tennis entered Orissa thanks to the initiative by a hard-working organizer known as Mohammad Azam (popularly Peru). The national championship created a good opportunity for the sport to find a firm footing in the state. But the amateurish management of the event failed to yield the desired results. Azam, the secretary of the the state association, tried to handle every job personally but ended up doing justice to none. The main drawback was that a championship which was participated by more than 400 players and held at a well equipped venue couldnot generate expected public interest. The basic short-coming was improper or no marketing of the event. Media, which plays a vital role in the success of sports events, was ignored. No newspaper or television channel except The New Indian Express and Orisports.com covered the event. There was absolutely no schedule of the championship. Nobody knew what was happening and when. An old man managed this job at his own will. Despite being the host, Orissa couldnot field a good team. Regular soft-tennis players were given a shabby treatment. The state team couldnot even get a proper jersey. The reputation of the host state would have been worse if the tennis players had not come to its rescue. PHOTOS: TOP: Title winners of the 7th Senior National Soft Tennis Championship in Bhubaneswar on Nov 19, 2009. BOTTOM: Men`s doubles gold medallists Ajay Nishank and Lalit Dash at the 7th Senior National Soft Tennis Championship in Bhubaneswar on Nov 19, 2009.