By The Tribune

NEW DELHI, October 22nd (www.dsclopentennis.com)- Left-handers Sunil Kumar Sipaeya and Isha Lakhani regained the men's and women's singles titles with authoritative displays in the 14th DSCL Open National Tennis Championship at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association deco-turf courts here today.

The finals, played on adjacent courts simultaneously, witnessed the re-emergence of top seeds Sunil Kumar of Chandigarh and Isha Lakhani of Maharashtra as the new hopes of Indian tennis.

Sunil Kumar quelled the challenge of fourth-seeded local boy Ashutosh Singh 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in one hour and 43 minutes, while Isha rode past her Maharashtrian team-mate and second seed Sonal Phadke 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) in just under an hour.

Qualifier Arnav Jain of Maharashtra created a virtual sensation when he disposed of third-seeded Kinshuk Sharma of Chandigarh 6-2, 6-3 with a standout performance to win the boys under-18 singles title while fourth-seeded V Poojashree defeated her Karnataka team-mate G K Sweta 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 to bag the girls's under-18 title.

The victories of Sunil and Isha were on expected lines as they had cruised into the finals without facing much challenge. For Sunil, the title win was the much-needed boost he was looking for as after winning the DSCL Open on his debut in 1999 to emerge the champion at the age of 16 years, he could never really repeat that show on the national circuit, though he was the runner-up in 2000.

He had not played in the DSCL Open for five years due to his commitments elsewhere. But he realised that his success in the Futures and Challengers abroad were not being noticed by people who mattered who could help him pursue his career with focused attention.

Presently, he lacks sponsors and a support system which could help him grow. And his victory today made him literally rich, as the title brought over Rs 1 lakh in cash prize too.

Ashutosh Singh, who was making his maiden appearance in the men's Open final, could not match Sunil's superior game strategy and all-round talent, despite his exuberance and aggression. He wilted once Sunil got into top gear.

“I was confident of victory, though it would have been difficult if Vijay Kannan was the finalist”, said Sunil. Vijay lost in the semifinal to Ashutosh yesterday. Sunil, who considers himself at the fifth position in the pecking order behind Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna, said his immediate aim was to find sponsors to go for bigger things, and regain his place in the Davis Cup team.

Isha Lakhani, who has been battling with injuries for the past one and a half years, the return to top form was an occasion to assess her fitness and style which held good against Sonal Phadke. Isha had faced some problem only in the second set, when she squandered a 5-3 lead to allow Sonal to catch up and take the fight to tie-break, where Isha again fumbled after taking a 6-3 lead. Sonal made it 6-6 and 7-7, but did not have the power to deny Isha the last two points on her serve.

Chandigarh (OSR): Capt Amarinder Singh, Punjab Chief Minister, has offered financial support to Sunil Kumar Sipaeya to enable him to participate in tournaments abroad. This was conveyed by the Chief Minister to Mr Rajan Kashyap, Chairman, Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA). Stating this here on Saturday, Mr Kashyap said CLTA hoped to raise additional resources to enable the 22-year-old player to achieve his full potential at the international level.