Sania wins invitational doubles tournament

Siliguri, Tennis icon Sania Mirza teamed up with compatriot Rushmi Chakravorty to beat the American duo Neha and Sikha Uberoi and win in the doubles of the Videocon Invitational Challenge Tennis Tournament at the Siliguri Indoor Stadium here this evening.

The Sania-Rushmi pair beat the Uberoi sisters 5-7, 6-4 and 10-8 in a close contest.

In the singles, Sikha beat her 20-year-old sibling Neha, 6-4 in a single set match, while in a friendly tie Sania got the better of her mentor Mahesh Bhupati, 7-5.

The winning doubles pair got the Rs.1,25,000 prize money, while the runners-up had to be content with Rs.75,000. All the four players were given attractive trophies.

Sania, ranked 66 in the world now, obviously commanded the most attention from the crowd and drew loud cheers as she asked in Bengali if they (crowd) were all well. More applause followed as she asked if they would like her to play in Siliguri again.

Doubles specialist Bhupathi, who was the special guest, congratulated the local administration and the people of Siliguri for making the event a grand success.

On behalf of the two Uberoi sisters, Sikha thanked the organisers for their effort.

The singles and doubles matches were played on a special Globosport green sheet made of quality timbre used recently in the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata.

The prizes were given away by West Bengal Urban Development Minister, Ashoke Bhattacharya and the Mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation Bikash Ghosh.