TENNIS
Prajwal Dev wishes to have permanent travelling coach after qualifying to Chennai Open main draw
India’s S. D. Prajwal Dev qualified for the main draw of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tennis championship in Chennai, with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Vadym Ursu of Ukraine.
“I started off a bit slow. He is a different kind of player who puts lots of balls in. It took some time to understand his game,” said the 27-year-old, who was the lone Indian among 11 to qualify.
Prajwal, ranked 611 in the world, said it’s a big moment for him to play in the main draw at home. “For me, this is very big at the moment. It will definitely boost my self confidence. Playing in India is always special. It gives us the advantage of home conditions. We handle the heat much better,” he remarked.
Prajwal expressed his wish of having a permanent travelling coach with him, but said it is financially not viable. “I don’t have a coach. I do my own training. For the last 3-4 years it has been like this. I would love to have a coach but financially it is difficult. If you don’t have a personal coach, it is difficult to sustain the level. I am keen to be in the top 500 soon,” he said.
-K. Keerthivasan
BADMINTON
Sathish-Aadya win mixed doubles title, Sai-Krishna claim men’s doubles crown
Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath won the mixed doubles title at the 32nd Iran Fajr International Challenge badminton tournament after beating fellow Indian pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy in the final in Yazd, Iran. Sathish and Aadya notched up a 22-20, 21-14 win over Sumeeth and Sikki in the summit clash on Saturday.
K Sai Pratheek and Krishna Prasad Garage claimed the men’s doubles title after defeating the Mexican pair of Job Castillo and Luis Armando Montoya 21-18, 21-19 in the final on Sunday.
In men’s singles, Sathish lost 17-21, 18-21 to Hong Kong’s Nguyen Hai Dang in the final, while fourth seed Tasnim Mir went down 14-21, 12-21 to Hong Kong’s Sin Yan Happy Lo in women’s singles.
Sathish had won his maiden BWF Super 100 title, the Odisha Open, in December last year.
-PTI