Rutuja Bhosale courts history at 15

Fifteen-year-old Rutuja Bhosale of Pune became the youngest state tennis player ever to win the senior national tennis championship. The standard XI student from Pune’s Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC) beat Isha Lakhani 6-4, 6-3 to win the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship in New Delhi on Saturday.

Joining Rutuja was Arjun Khade, another budding player from Pune who won the boys under-18 title on the same day. Both these Lakshay-Bharat Forge and Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) Vision players from Pune have had a good run in the hard court tennis in the country.

“It is a fantastic achievement,” Rutuja’s coach Sandeep Kirtane told DNA on Saturday. Rutuja has become the second youngest in the country to have won the senior national title. Ratnika Batra was the youngest ever to have won the national title in 2008 at the age of 14.

Senior south-paw Isha, who has been playing the game for over two decades, was the favourite on paper. But Rutuja played a strong game to outwit her more experienced opponent. “She is one of the senior most players in the country. I knew the match would be tough, but I put everything into the game and concentrated on it,” Rutuja told DNA on the phone from Delhi.
Kirtane said his ward had made optimum use of her strong forehand to outwit Isha. “It is always difficult to play a senior player who is ranked much above you, but Rutuja prepared very well mentally,” he said.

Rutuja’s mother, Neeta was beside herself with joy. She told DNA at their Pune home on Saturday, “I was always travelling with her outside Pune, but this time I was not so fortunate to see her win her first maiden senior national title on her debut.”