The diminutive player who is barely 4 feet 7inches was seen scampering around the court and with her trade mark shout of ‘come on’ after successfully winning a point.
With lightning quick movement around the court and a fiery spirit 12-year-old Nandini Das set the MSLTA courts on fire on Saturday and upset top seed Ojasvinee Singh 6-4 6-2 to enter the U-12 girls’ final of the Ramesh Desai All-India Ranking tournament.
The diminutive player who is barely 4 feet 7inches was seen scampering around the court and with her trade mark shout of ‘come on’ after successfully winning a point. Playing consistently she crushed her higher-ranked opponent and enter her maiden nationals final.
The youngster was at her chirpy best after the match, “If I’m sailing along smoothly then I pump myself up by shouting. I lost to her last year at national losing 2-8. Also she hits very hard and I had to be careful of that, but she committed a lot of mistakes on crucial points too which helped me.”
Nandini, who is from Navi Mumbai and used to study at the Father Agnels School in Vasai, moved to Bangalore two years ago after she was selected by the Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy and she trains there.
Joining the academy means that she misses out on school and only appears for exams, “There is a set programme at the academy and I stick to that. I don’t attend classes and get notes to study for the exams.”
The youngster is a bundle of confidence. “I’m flying out to Ahmedabad tomorrow (Sunday) after the finals for the Asian junior championship. I’ll be travelling alone since everyone has work,” she said.
When asked on her idol she was quick to quip, “Nadal because he has quick feet. He is my inspiration as even my strength is my quick feet.”
Nandini will meet her doubles partner Vanshika in the final on Sunday. The friends have met four times before with Vanshika leading their head-to-heads 3-1. Despite the advantage that her friend has over her, Nandini was cheering her from the sidelines while she was playing her semifinal match.
Other results: Boys U-12: I Eqbal bt V Jeevan 7-5 (conceded), R Jaisinghani bt R Pandole 6-4 6-3; Boys U-16: S Abdullah bt M Kumar 2-6 6-1 6-1, V Passi bt R Dharani 6-4 7-5; Girls U-12: N Das bt O Singh 6-4 6-2, V Sawhney bt T Palani Vale 6-1 4-6 6-1; Girls U-16: T Iska bt S Reddy 7-5 6-1, T Bhatti bt R Bhosale 6-4 6-1.
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