Tennis had a big start on Day 1 of BOSM, with three out of four teams making it to the court in the morning. The BITS boys’ B team carved an effortless victory against DTU with beautiful strokes and the occasional power game. The BITS girls’ A team, however, did not paint such a rosy picture on court as the Venky’s girls’ team proved to be too much to handle for the fresher-captain duo.

The BITS A versus Venky fixture started with a singles’ match which was lost by BITS, the scoreline being 5-3, 4-2. Playing mini-sets in the league stage ensures that the players have the energy to play multiple matches a day and the viewers do not get bored. The BITSian playing in this game, Vidhi Shah, a first-year student and state level tennis player from Gujarat, tried her best to step into the driver’s seat on multiple occasions. At times, she was successful, but for the better part of it, this southpaw was on the receiving end of some well-placed shots and strong forehand strokes.  Vidhi’s partial success came from her strategy of lofting the ball as her opponent struggled to deal with the height, but her deteriorating service game and increasing anxiety deterred her from keeping her focus intact, and eventually she succumbed to the pressure.

The doubles game that followed met a similar fate as captain Aishwarya Sharma, along with Vidhi, lost to Venky’s team 5-3, 4-1.

BITSians need not panic yet, however, for these matches were not of a knockout nature, as the teams are playing in a round robin.

The press ardently cheers the BITS girls’ team on for their future fixtures.