Nitten Kirrtane continued to fight hard and shine bright in the individual events of the ITF Masters World Championship as he added the mixed doubles silver and the men’s doubles bronze medals to his collection in Mexico City.
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After having helped the over-50 team to the first ever silver in the World championship, Nitten ran into the top player Bart Beks of Netherlands in singles, doubles and mixed doubles of the individual championship.
Nitten went down fighting to the top seeded Bart 5-7, 6-7(5) in the singles quarterfinals. He made the mixed doubles final with Isabelle Gemmel of Australia before being beaten by Bart and Barbara Mulej.
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In men’s doubles, Nitten and Jagdish Tanwar made the semifinals where they went down to Bart and Sebastian Jackson 10-6 in the super tie-break.
“I played hard in the individual events despite being physically exhausted after the team competition. I ran into Bart in all three events. He is a tough competitor and we played very close matches,” said Nitten before boarding the flight back to India.
“Special thanks to my teammates Jagdish Tanwar, Ajit Sail and Hatinder Panwar for the support they gave me. We coordinated very well as a team. I thank my family members for the constant support during the event”, said Nitten.
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Thanking the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and team sponsor Rakesh Kohli with his famous brand Stag, for the persistent support, Nitten said: “We will be motivated to come back stronger next year if AITA and Sports Ministry recognise our historic run for the nation.”
The results: Over-50: Men’s singles, quarterfinals: Bart Beks (Ned) bt Nitten Kirrtane 7-5, 7-6(5); Doubles, semifinals: Beks & Sebastian Jackson (GBR) bt Nitten & Jagdish Tanwar 6-2, 2-6, [10-6].
Mixed doubles, final: Barbara Mulej (Slo) & Beks bt Isabelle Gemmel (Aus) & Nitten 6-1, 7-5.