Bhubaneswar: Kabir Hans won the singles title in the MOSF-AITA-OTA Gurukul Mens 1 Lakh Tennis Tournament, held at Gurukul Resorts & Country Club, Mendhasal, near Bhubaneswar from September 2 to 7, 2024. He beat Bhicky Sagolshem (Manipur) in the final 6-4, 6-2.
The title triumph is sure to boost the morale of Kabir, who returned to competitive tennis after a three-month injury layoff. He suffered a knee injury while playing tournaments in Africa. However, after treatment under Dr Debashish Mishra, the highest-ranked Odisha player has recovered well.
Odisha missed a double crown as Amrutjay Mohanty and Aditya Mohapatra settled as doubles runners-up. Arunava Majumder (West Bengal) and Bhicky Sagolshem (Manipur) won the doubles crown, defeating the Odisha duo 6-2, 7-5 in the summit clash.
The week-long tournament was organised by Mission Olympic Sports Foundation (MOSF), under the auspices of Odisha Tennis Association (OTA) and All India Tennis Association (AITA).
Credit must be given to MOSF for organising AITA tournaments on a regular basis and helping tennis players to play these tournaments at a cost affordable to middle and lower-middle class. MOSF is also set to organize another AITA Mens 1 Lakh Tournament at the same venue from September 9.
“Despite not getting the much-needed sponsorship support, we have been organising as many AITA tournaments as possible with the objective to help players compete and earn ranking points without burdening themselves too much financially,” said Chinmay Pradha, an ATP player and CEO of MOSF.
