Korea made a clean sweep of all four titles in the ITF Asia 14 & Under Development Championships 2023, Finals (Week 1) at the revamped Kalinga Stadium Tennis Complex in Bhubaneswar today. Indian girls made the country proud by finishing both singles and doubles runners-up.
Korea’s Wonmin Kim and Jiyun Oh clinched a double crown each, emerging both singles and doubles champions in boy and girls events respectively. Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi (India) settled as girls singles runner-up while compatriot Haritha Shree Venkatesh finished third.
Maaya and Haritha also finished runners-up in girls doubles event, after losing to Korean opponents in the final. A total of 46 players from 14 Asian coutries vied for honours in four events.
This was the first ITF Junior Tournament in Odisha and was hosted by Odisha Tennis Association (OTA), in collaboration with Department of Sports & Youth Services, Government of Odisha. After a one-day break, the second week of the championships will commence on April 10.
But the week-long international event served no purpose for the benefit of Odisha players as none from the State could get the opportunity to compete in it. It would have been much better had OTA hosted an AITA junior or senior tournament instead and enabled Odisha players earn some ranking points.
RESULTS:
Girls Singles: Places 1-2: Jiyun Oh (Korea) [2] def Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi (India) [1] 6-3, 6-1. Places 3-4: Haritha Shree Venkatesh (India) [4] def Natrada Sakulvongtana (Thailand) [6] 6-2, 6-1. Places 5-6: Eva Korysheva (Kazakhstan) [3] def Tarita Hongsyok (Thailand) [5] 6-3, 6-4. Places 7-8: Nitya Balakrishna Madduri (Hong Kong) def Gwen Emily Kurniawan (Indonesia) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Places 9-10: Yeri Hong (Korea) def Yerkezhan Zhanatayeva (Kazakhstan) 6-2, 7-6(5). Places 11-12: Ying Chi Chloe Wong (Hong Kong) def Ilima Guseynova (Turkmenistan) 6-3, 6-3. Places 13-14: Githmi Riyana Fernando Weweldeniyage (Sri Lanka) [8] def Emily Kim (Uzbekistan) [7] 6-4, 6-3. Places 15-16: Yan Rong Tzeng (Taiwan) def Zooey Mak (Malaysia) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. Places 17-18: Htay Htay Myint (Myanmar) def Assyifa Khansa Putri Raga (Indonesia) 6-2, 6-3. Places 19-20: Ngoc Thuy Khanh Nguyen (Vietnam) def Dhevieena Sarawanan (Malaysia) 6-3, 6-0. Places 21-22: Gehansa Methnadi Lamappulage Don (Sri Lanka) def Nhi Quang Thi Yen (Vietnam) 6-2, 6-1. Places 23-24: Mary Abrash (Syria) def Bana Izzi (Syria) 6-0, 6-1.
Boys Singles: Places 1-2: Wonmin Kim (Korea) [2] def Min Hyuk Cho (Korea) [1] 7-6(2), 6-2. Places 3-4: Alex Lap Hang Hui (Hong Kong) def Andre Lam Jun Bart (Hong Kong) 6-1, 1-0 (Rtd). Places 5-6: Joachim Mika Gunawan (Indonesia) def Prakaash Sarran (India) [4] 6-7(3), 6-4, 2-0 (Rtd). Places 7-8: Mikhail Michshenko (Kazakhstan) def Methika Nuran Wickramasin Wickramasinghe Mudiyanselage (Sri Lanka) [7] 6-2, 6-0. Places 9-10: Rafalentino Ali Da Costa (Indonesia) def Shivtej Shirfule (India) [5] 6-3, 6-1. Places 11-12: Yaroslav Pshenichniy (Kazakhstan) [8].
Girls Doubles: Places 1-2: Yeri Hong-Jiyun Ho (Korea) [3] def Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi-Haritha Shree Venkatesh (India) [1] 6-4, 6-1. Places 3-4: Ilima Guseynova-Emily Kim (Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan) and Eva Korysheva-Yerkezhan Zhanatayeva (Kazakhstan).
Boys Doubles: Places 1-2: Min Hyuk Cho-Wonmin Kim (Korea) [1] def Ryu Kotikula-Dharma Pantaratorn (Thailand) 6-3, 6-1. Places 3-4: Andre Lam Jun Bart-Alex Lap Hang Hui (Hong Kong) and Prakaash Sarran-Shivtej Shirfule (India) [1].
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PHOTO: Players of India and South Korea pose with Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das before the start of the girls doubles final match at the Centre Court of the Kalinga Stadium Tennis Complex in Bhubaneswar on 8 April 2023.