Ramaswami, Rashmi emerge best

Ajay Ramaswami of Maharashtra overcame some anxious moments before suppressing a spirited Manoj Mahadevan of Tamil Nadu to clinch the men's singles title while defending champion Rushmi Chakravarthi of Tamil Nadu retained her crown in the women's section of tennis event in the 31st National Games at CLTA courts in Chandigarh on Friday.

The strongly-built Ramaswami wriggled out of a tight position in the deciding set to script a hard-fought 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Mahadevan to give Maharashtra the gold.

The going was much easier for the seasoned Rushmi, as she spanked the young Sonal Phadke of Maharashtra with a facile 6-0, 6-3 verdict.

The honours in the mixed doubles event went to the Maharashtra duo of Sandeep Kirtane and Radhika Tulpule, who defeated the Tamil Nadu pair of Rushmi Chakravarthi and Vijay Kannan 6-4, 7-5.

Ramaswami, who took the first set without much difficulty, played some erratic shots in the second which cost him the set. Playing in strong windy conditions, Ramaswami at times found it difficult to control the ball.

"The second set was a bit tough for me as the wind was very strong. One set of balls used in the match was much lighter than the other two which made the balls go flying across making shot play that much difficult," Ramaswami said.

Looking all cheerful after winning the crown for Maharashtra (Vinod Sridhar of Tamil Nadu had won the title at the last National Games), Ramaswami said, "It was regular practice and working on my weak areas which helped me raise the game."

It was a cakewalk for last year's champion Rushmi, who demolished Phadke in straight sets 6-0, 6-3.

Phadke, who had played some good tennis in this series, could not maintain that momentum when it mattered the most. It was meek surrender by her in the first set and she never looked like staging a comeback in the second as well, finally having to settle for the silver.

In the women's singles final for the bronze, Karnataka's S K Tara beat statemate Sheetal Gautam 6-7 (7/3), 3-2 after the latter conceded the match.

Sheetal slipped down in the sixth game of the second set and injured her right ankle.

"I slipped and fell down chasing a shot after which I could not get up. The doctor has said that it is a minor tear in the ligament around the ankle," she said, adding, "I feel terribly disappointed for having to sit out in this manner".

In the women's doubles for the bronze, Radhika Tulpule an Radhika M of Maharashtra got a walkover from S K Tara and Sheetal Gautam of Karnataka.

In the mixed doubles for the bronze, Ankita Bhambri and Shivang of Delhi got a walkover from S K Shivshankar and Sheetal Gautam of Karnataka.