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."