KUCHING: Number five seed Yuvan Nandal from India and number four seed Vlada Mincheva emerged as the champions of their respective categories in the 38th Premier Sarawak Cup ITF World Tennis Tour Junior J300 (J1) held at Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre here on Sunday.
Nandal managed to cause a minor upset against his compatriot, third seed Aryan Shah, in the boys’ singles category.
Nandal took down Shah with two straights sets 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 10 minutes to claim the crown.
Meanwhile, in the girls’ singles category, Mincheva took the gold medal after her opponent, the unseeded Daria Gorska from Poland retired due to shoulder injuryafter losing the first set by 0-6, and trailing in the second set by 0-1.
The Polish was visibly seen uncomfortable throughout the match, including in the girls’ doubles match on Saturday where she won the championship along with her partner, Zuzanna Pawlikowska, also from Poland.
She missed out the chance to become a double crown champion after coming up short in the final.
Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah presented the prizes to the winners and runners-up.
During the event, SLTA president Datuk Patrick Liew also pointed out that after hosting J300 (J1) tournaments for so many years, he has the ambition to hold a J500 tournament in the future.
The J500 tournament is a Grade A competition, just a grade below the Junior Grand Slams.
