Banthia , Mananchaya are Winners at 2nd HCL Asian Junior Tennis Championship

Pune, October 27, 2018: Fourth seeded and Local boy Siddhant Banthia and Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand emerged Boys and Girls Championships at the 2nd edition of the HCL Asian B1 Junior Tennis Championship hosted by leading global conglomerate HCL organized by MSLTA and PMDTA under the auspices of the ITF, Asian tennis Federation(ATF) and AITA which concluded at the Deccan Gymkhana tennis courts in Pune.

In the Final Round Boys local lad and MSLTA vision programme member Siddhant Banthia who is also supported by Lakshya and Bharat Forge outplayed second seeded Sergey Fomin Of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-4

In the Girls finals third seeded Mananchaya Sawangkaew Of Thailand player out a close first set to get past Priska Madelyn Nugroho Of Indonesia 7-6(5), 6-3

Siddhant Said that, "It was my best win in juniors career. I wanted to win this tournament I lost in the finals last year , I was confident going into matches Deccan Gymkhana courts always suits my style of playing."

"Semi-final and final match was the toughest. Both the players were higher seeded players, there was a pressure but I know these courts so played accordingly"

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Sundar Mahalingam, Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Corporation and Shiv Nadar Foundation said,“Today, the stars of Indian Tennisare making the country proud at the international level.

It is important that we nurture the next generation of players to sustain this momentum of success. Over the last several years, HCL has undertakena number of initiatives that are aimed at creating platforms for gifted young players to compete with the best and improve their overall game, right on their home turf. I hope that some of these players will go on to make a mark in international tennis in the future.”

Hon’ Secretary of the MSLTA, Sunder Iyer said In a statement, We are delighted with the outcome of this year’s Asian Junior Tennis Championship and I congratulate the winners and participants for a spectacular performance. I would like to thank HCL for their support in bringing this prestigious tournament to Pune for the second consecutive year and look forward to hosting many more such tournaments with HCL in the coming years.”

The winner got 280ITF Points and Trophy, while runner up got 170points and trophy.The prizes were given away at the hands of Olympian and Asian games gold medalist Dattu Bhoknal and Sundar Mahalingam, Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Corporation and Shiv Nadar Foundation. Kaustubh Shah of Tournament Director, Leena Nageshkar Tournament supervisor were present on the occasion.

Following are the results: Singles: Final Round: Boys

S.4 Siddhant Banthia (Ind) bt S.2 Sergey Fomin(Uzb) 6-1, 6-4

Final Round: Girls

S.3 Mananchaya Sawangkaew(Tha) bt S.4 Priska Madelyn Nugroho (Ina) 7-6(5), 6-3