Double crown for Ratnika

The smile did not fade from young Ratnika Batra’s face on the final day of the DSCL Nationals. It was a busy morning for the 13-year-old, and a fruitful one.

The smile did not fade from young Ratnika Batra’s face on the final day of the DSCL Nationals. It was a busy morning for the 13-year-old, and a fruitful one.

Ratnika picked up the singles trophies in both the under-14 and under-16 categories and did not drop a set in either match.

In her first match of the day, her opponent was Ankita Raina, who had taken out second seed Rishika Sunkara in the semi-finals. Today, it was Ankita who was at the wrong end of a 4-6, 3-6 scoreline in the under-16 final. As the forehand winners flew past, the first set appeared to be progressing evenly, but it was Ankita who earned the first break, taking a 3-2 lead. Not to be outdone, though, Ratnika won the next three games, and her aggressive play granted her an opportunity to serve for the opening set. However, a slight stutter at this point saw Ankita pound off powerful winners to stay in contention. But her hard work came to naught when a sloppy game, ending with a forehand wide on set point, gave Ratnika the set at 6-4.

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Ratnika was broken in the first game of the second set, but again, Ankita could not consolidate on her lead. She was broken back after more errors, and two games later, it was Ratnika who gained a 4-2 lead and little later 6-3 in her favour.

The second match featuring Ratnika and Goa’s Natasha Palha in the under-14 category was of lesser quality, but the outcome was unchanged. Second seed Palha went down 4-6, 4-6 to give the Haryana girl her second title of the day.

Delhi’s Prateek Bhambri put up a fine display in overpowering Chandigarh’s Shiva Sangwan 6-2, 6-0 in the boys U-16 final. In the U-14 final, second seed Mohit Mayur fought his way past top seed Rohit Bisht 7-6 (7), 6-4.