Manisha’s marathon effort helps AP win Games gold

It was joy and ecstasy for Andhra Pradesh women’s team. The marathon second singles final which took almost three hours had all the excitement and drama before the experienced Manisha Malhotra got past a tired Sheetal Gautam 6-1, 6-7 (10-12), 7-5 to give Andhra Pradesh their first tennis gold in women’s event against Karnataka in the National Games here today.

This was after the promising Sania Mirza had given a flying start to the home by thrashing Archana Venkataraman 6-4, 6-2 in the first singles match. ‘‘I was complacent after winning the first set,’’ admitted Manisha, who decided to play for Andhra Pradesh.

Manisha began in telling fashion, making short work of Archana’s challenge. But after an easy set, she began to choke as Archana, slowly and steadily, took the match away from her. ‘‘I think Manisha felt the pressure and began to give away easy points,’’ said coach Narendernath.

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From 2-5, Manisha came back into the match but then again she blew away the chance to allow Archana to win the second set via tie-breaker.

It was the same story in the third and crucial set. Archana took a lead of 5-2 before Manisha made yet another comeback.