Prithvi sekhar beats deaflympics silver medallist, India secure seventh place in World championship

Prithvi Sekhar bounced back from a bad start to beat Deaflympics silver medallist Andres Vazquez 0-6, 6-4, 6-1 as India secured the seventh place with a 2-1 victory over Ecuador in the Deaf Tennis World Championship in Antalya, Turkey, on Thursday.

After DH Prashanth gave a flying start by outplaying Jean Carlos Santana 6-0, 6-1, Prithvi stumbled to a bad start before settling into his fighting best.

‘’Despite losing the first set, I played confident. My backhand down the line was working fine, and I went for volleys too. I was serving good, and was willing to rally to earn the points’’, said Prithvi, quite happy to have played a strong role.

''This is the first time we are playing this team championship. Next time we will prepare better and try to be in the top-4'', said Prithvi.

The Indian women, however, were beaten by host Turkey 3-0 and placed eighth.

The results:

Men (seventh place): India bt Ecuador 2-1 (DH Prashanth bt Jean Carlos Santana 6-0, 6-1; Prithvi Sekhar bt Andres Vazquez 0-6, 6-4, 6-1; Dhananjay Dubey & Sai Chandan lost to Jean Carlos Santana & Andres Vazquez 0-6, 2-6).

Women (seventh place): Turkey bt India 3-0 (Tutem Banguoglu bt Bhavani Kedia 6-0, 6-3; Asuman Saki bt Jafreen Shaik 6-1, 6-3; Tutem Banguoglu & Asuman Saki bt Jafreen Shaik & Bhavani Kedia 6-3, 6-3).