MSSA U-14: Double delight for tennis player Kiara D'Souza

Lilavatibai Podar girl storms into singles final of MSSA U-14 tennis with 6-0 win over Jenny Reji and then helps her school reach team finale with Samyukta Mandampully

It was double delight for Lilavatibai Podar ICSE (Santacruz) student Kiara D’Souza in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) girls U-14 inter-school tennis tournament at the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) courts, Cooperage yesterday.

Lilavatibai Podar ICSE’s Kiara D’Souza returns to Jenny Reji at the MSTLA courts yesterday. Pic/Atul kamble

Kiara first beat Jenny Reji of Mary Immaculate Girls School (Borivli) 6-0 to enter the singles final.

Later, she teamed up with schoolmate Samyukta Mandampully to register a 2-0 victory over Carmel of St Joseph’s (Malad) in the semi-finals of the girls’ team event. In the two singles matches of the team event, Kiara beat Aarti Luthra 6-3 after which Samyukta beat Jennika Jaison 6-2 in the second rubber.

Twelve-year-old Kiara was satisfied with her improved singles performance this year. “Last year, I wasn’t a strong contender in the singles event and lost in the quarter-finals. I had issues with my serve and ground strokes.

“That’s when I decided to work very hard and do well the next year. I spent long hours with my coach Alon Moses at the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana (Khar) and the results have been very satisfying. I have entered the final of the MSSA tournament for the first time,” said the Class VIII student.

Talking about reaching two finals, she said, “Reaching the singles final is something that I will always cherish. Entering the final in the team event was like the icing on the cake. I hope I can win both finals tomorrow,” said the Santacruz resident.

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