India's Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha clinches ITF Men's title

NEW DELHI: India's Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha scored a convincing 6-3, 7-6 win over American fourth seed Oliver Crawford in the ITF men's $15,000 New Delhi final to bring cheers to the home fans at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium on Sunday.

The victory helped Poonacha earn India its maiden home win in singles in the ITF World Tennis Tour series, which began in early March.

With this triumph, Poonacha also ended his title drought on the ITF Men's Tour since his maiden win in Indonesia in 2018.

The 25-year-old Indian sailed through the first set easily. However, Crawford, the winner of last week's $15,000 Pune event, made a strong bid to come back in the second set and take the match into the decider. IANS

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