Sipaeya wins Asian jr tennis

Top seeded Sunil Kumar Sipaeya of India fought his way past Liu Wan Tai of Chinese Taipei to clinch the Asian junior ITF tennis title at the DLTA deco-turfs in Delhi on Saturday.

Sipaeya, struggling from an abdominal niggle, was made to toil for more than two hours by the fifth seeded Liu before winning the coveted title at 6-7, 7-5, 6-3.

In the girls' singles final, Chan Chin Wei shocked second seed Hong da-Jong of Korea 6-3, 6-2.

Sipaeya began the match with an array of sizzling returns that caught his opponent by surprise but he squandered the advantage by attempting some fancy shots.

Liu was up 40-0 in the ninth game but the Indian persistently attacked the weak backhand of his opponent. It forced the Chinese to commit errors and a forehand wide by Liu gave Sipaeya the break to move up 5-4.

Sipaeya, serving for the set, could not ward off the pressure exerted by his rival as he hit three consecutive unforced errors to gift Liu the game as the set headed for a tie-break.

In a pulsating tie-break, Liu unleashed a laser-sharp forehand crosscourt winner to achieve the crucial mini-break and go 3-0 up. He hung on to the slender lead to win the first set 7-6 (7-4).

In the second set, Liu broke a struggling Sipaeya in the first game itself when the Indian, already down, 15-30 served two consecutive double faults.

Realising that he needed to win the set to stay in the match, Sipaeya gradually struck up a good rhythms and broke Liu in the 12th game. The Indian then proceded to hold and take the set at 7-5.

In the third set, Sipaeya was at his aggressive best. He played some gorgeous shots on either flank to unsettle Liu and broke him in the eigth game.

Serving for the match, Sipaeya had moments of anxity, as Liu, down three game points, made it deuce before the Indian made a nicely executed down-the-line passing shot to clinch the title.

"I feared that the abdomin alniggle would create problems for me here but luckily I was able to overcome it and a tough opponent like Liu to win the match," said a visibly relieved Sipaeya.

In a monotonous girls' final, Chan Chin Wei of Chinese Taipei proved too good for defeated Hong Da Jung of Korea.

The second seeded Korean found the going tough as Chan rattled her with neatly placed serves and acute angle passing shots.

In the first set, the Taipei girl broke Hong in the eighth game, when the Korean netted an easy volley, to move up 5-3 and held her serve without much ado to bag the set 6-3.

Chan broke her opponent in the first game of the second set with a perfectly executed drop shot and clung on to the lead to pocket the set and match.

In an all Chinese Taipei final, Hsieh Wang Cheng and Wu Yi Chang of Chinese Taipei toppled Liu Tai Wei and Shih Cheuh Cheng 6-3 6-2 to clinch the doubles title.

Earlier reports:
Sipaeya enters Asian jr tennis final
Sipaeya in semi-finals
Sania Mirza upset
Tushar Liberhan shines
Rohan Gajjar upset in Asian junior tennis