09 Jan 2015|Noida | Tennis Court
Players from DU and Jamia to face each other during the finals to be played at Amity University
The Semi final of prestigious “North Zone Inter University Tennis (Women) Tournament” organised by Association of Indian Universities (AIU) was played today at Amity Campus, Sector 125, Noida.
The first semi-final was played between the teams of Jamia and Panjab University, Chandigarh in which the first Singles Match was played between Prerna Bhambri (Jamia) and Preeinian Grewal (Panjab University, Chandigarh) wherein Prerna Bhambri eked out 6-1, 6-0 and emerged as the winner. During second Singles Match, Arushi Sharma (Jamia) defeated Aashima Garg (Panjab University) with the score of 6-1, 6-0. During Doubles Match, Prerna Bhambri and Arushi Sharma (Jamia) galloped to victory with 6-3, 6-3 beating Panjab University’s Preeinian Grewal and Aashima Garg. After knocking out Panjab University Chandigarh, the team from Jamia registered its well-deserved entry into the Finals with 2-1.
The second Semi-final was played between DU and Punjabi University, Patiala. Rajveer Kaur from Punjabi University, Patiala defeated Smriti from DU with 6-3, 6-2 during first Singles. In the second Singles, Ravnoor from DU overpowered Pooja Maurya from Punjabi University, Patiala with 6-1, 6-2. Nikita Shetty and Rishika Sunkara from DU drubbed Rajbeer Kaur and Pooja Maurya from Punjabi University, Patiala 7-5, 6-2. DU beat Punjabi University, Patiala with 2-1 in second Semi-Finals.
The nail biting finals of the Tournament on January10, 2015 would witness the tough face-off between the teams of DU and Jamia with both the teams fielding finest internationally acclaimed Tennis Players.
Expressing her thoughts, Prof. Kalpana Sharma- Director, Amity School of Physical Education and Sports Sciences (ASPESS) thanked AIU for entrusting the responsibility of hosting “North Zone Inter University and finals of Tennis Women Tournament and Chess at Amity Campus for the first time. She remarked that it is just a beginning and Amity University, with its world class Sports facilities is endowed to host International Sports events and tournaments. She shared that all the five matches of the North Zone Tournament are being conducted as per rules of AITA adopted by AIU, New Delhi and finals will be played on 10thJanuary 2015.
Rishika Sunkara (National Ranking- 4, International Ranking-560 in Singles and 450 in Doubles) from DU and Prerna Bhambri (International Ranking- 616 in Singles and 998 in Doubles) from Jamia with their experience and international exposure would raise the level of competition manifold in the finals.
Sharing her views, Player Rishika Sunkara who has played several National and International Tournaments (teaming with veteran Player Sania Mirza in few) including The Federation Cup 2014 in Kazakhstan, Asian Games 2014 in Korea and several ITF tournaments and is representing DU in the Tournament said that she is anxiously looking forward to the finals of North Zone where she has planned to come out all guns blazing against the team of Jamia.
Rishika has been playing Tennis since she was 6 years old and now, Tennis has become the passion of her life. Talking about Tennis in India, she remarked that Indian Tennis Players to could match up with International counterparts provided they get financial assistance, better infrastructure, Professional Training Academies and more sponsors for the Sports which would really help the grass root talent to shine in International Tournaments. She called upon the budding Tennis Talent to stay focused on their personal and professional goals and work dexterously towards achieving the same.
Player Prerna Bhambri who has played Tennis nationally (Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship) and Internationally (QNET Open 2014) expressed that the finals are going to be exciting and engrossing and she is looking forward to register the decisive victory of Jamia against the last year North Zone Tournament winners’- DU in the finals.
Sharing her views, further, she stressed that Tennis in India started becoming popular after Sania Mirza entered the Sports and now, there is no dearth of talent in the country “India is matching up with International standards when it comes to the organization part of the Sports but as far as training and grooming of Tennis players is concerned, a lot needs to be done”, she shared. She called upon the young Tennis Players to enjoy playing Tennis without taking pressure which would help them to perform their best in any Tournament.
Prof. Meenakshi Pahuja from Physical Education Department, LSR College and Manager, DU Tennis Team (Women)appreciated the organizing team of Amity University for meticulously organizing the Tournament, taking care of Players right from specially designed diet plans to other facilities. She highlighted that Inter University Tennis (Women) Tournament” by Association of Indian Universities (AIU) brings out the best Tennis Talent in the country and is a breeding for players to brace up for International Tournaments.
Over 21 teams from various Universities across North Zone participated in the Tournament including Lucknow University, Chandigarh University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Aligarh Muslim University, University of Allahabad, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science & Technology, Chaudhary Devilal University, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Thapar University, Punjab University, Kurukshetra University, University of Delhi, Punjabi University, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Maharshi Dayanand University, Punjab Technical University, Jamia Millia Islamia , Swami Vivekanand Subharti University and Amity University Uttar Pradesh