Bhumika and Harshali ran close till 4-all. After winning the ninth game cleverly, Bhumika changed tactics and varied the pace which forced Harshali commit errors
Canossa Convent's Bhumika Tripathi returns to Bombay Scottish's Harshali Madavkar during the MSSA tennis final. Pic/Atul Kamble
Hard work and perseverance paid rich dividends for Bhumika Tripathi of Canossa Convent (Andheri) as she enjoyed a rewarding day by emerging champion in girls' U-16 singles of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association-organised inter school lawn tennis championship.
Producing some creditable gutsy performances, Bhumika, 14, first won a tough semi-final 6-4 against Suhani Sabharwal of Ecole Mondiale (Juhu) and then succeeded in quashing the challenge from Harshali Madavkar, 14, of Bombay Scottish (Mahim) by recording a 8-5 in the (8 points to win) final at the MSSA Schools Sports Centre tennis courts on Saturday. Harshali had received a walkover from Vyomaa Bhaskar of St. Gregrious (Chembur).
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Bhumika, after winning a gruelling semi-final contest, was quite sporting to accept the request from the MSSA officials to play the final today itself since Harshali had to leave on Sunday to Delhi to participate in the AITA ranking tournament starting from Monday.
"Although I had a tough semi-final match, I still had the stamina and energy to play the final and I was pretty confident of giving my best. That's the reason I agreed to play the final today itself. Also it would not be good to win [the final] without playing," Bhumika told mid-day. Bhumika and Harshali ran close till 4-all. After winning the ninth game cleverly, Bhumika changed tactics and varied the pace which forced Harshali commit errors.
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