Sheetal Goutham triumphs

Third seed Sheetal Goutham held her nerve in sultry conditions to prevail over Ankita Bhambri in a gruelling three-set encounter, to annex the ITF women's circuit title at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association courts on Friday.

In a keenly fought match, the Bangalore-based Goutham exhibited remarkable temperament to win 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 after battling it out for nearly two-and-a-half hours.

The victory gave her 16 circuit points while fifth seed Bhambri bagged 12.

Yesterday, Goutham had defeated top seed Sonal Phadke 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 while Bhambri trounced Archana Venkataraman 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-finals.

Playing in energy-sapping conditions, both players did not give anything away but Goutham played the crucial points aggressively to pocket the first set 6-4.

Bhambri, however, played to her potential in the second set and held a 5-2 lead at one stage before taking the set andlevelling scores. Her powerful cross-court shots followed by long rallies troubled Goutham no end.

However, Goutham served well and held her nerve in the decider to come out trumps.

"Her pace was awesome. I was trying to come on to the net and block her serves. My shoulder was also feeling a bit heavy, but I hung in there... This victory is going to taste much sweeter," a beaming Goutham said.

Bhambri, who had a dream run in this tournament, looked disappointed.

"I feel terrible at the moment. I thought I could have won easily."