Sivaji Pilla won the individual bronze and the doubles silver with Arshit in the youth section of the World Deaf Tennis Championship in Crete, Greece, on Friday.
In the bronze medal match, Sivaji beat Vicente Cabo Chapa of Spain 6-3, 6-3. He had earlier lost in the semifinals to the top seed Marek Vaco of Slovakia.
In the doubles final, Vicente and Marek beat Arshit and Sivaji 9-7. The doubles matches were played in a short format, as a lot of action was packed in a week, in the men’s and women’s events, and their consolation matches.
It was the first time that the youth section was introduced in the World Deaf Tennis championship. India fielded two boys and no girls.
“It was the first international experience for Sivaji and Arshit. They have done very well to win the two medals. This will boost their confidence for good performances in future”, said coach Stalin Nagarajan, even as he praised the government, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the national federation for extending the best support to the team.
The next week will feature the team championships. India’s leading player Prithvi Sekar would join the team after having helped the Indian Railways team win the World Railways tennis gold earlier this week.
The results: Boys: Third place: Sivaji Pilla bt Vicente Cabo Chapa (Esp) 6-3, 6-3; Semifinals: Marek Vaco (Svk) bt Sivaji Pilla 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles: Final: Vicente Cabo Chapa (Esp) & Marek Vaco (Svk) bt Arshit & Sivaji Pilla 9-7.
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