Lee Kai Yi and William Winata claim doubles title in tennis age-group championships

Story by REDintern Ivan Ong. Photos by REDintern Derek Quah

Kallang Tennis Centre, Friday, June 18, 2010 — In a boys’ doubles final of the Singapore Tennis Association-Sports Excellence (STA-SPEX) 2nd Age Group Tennis Championships, Lee Kai Yi (Singapore)/William Winata (Indonesia) emerged victorious over Dimitri Sastropranoto (Indonesia)/Jai Malhotra (Great Britain). They won in straights sets, 7-5, 6-1.

The game started cagily as neither side was able to get a clear advantage.

At 5-4, it was agony for the pair of Lee/Winata as Winata’s shot just failed to clear the net at set point.

But their opponents were unable to capitalize on this unlikely lifeline. At the next set point by Lee/Winata, Sastropranoto double faulted to grant Lee/Winata the first set 7-5.

The second set opened with a bang, with Lee ending a spectacular rally with a superb volley down the middle, sending the crowd into raptures. Malhotra/Sastropranoto were clearly having difficulties containing Winata’s superb serves. One of his serves, which was registered at 178km/h on the speedometer, granted his team an ace on game point. Lee/Winata quickly raced to a 3-0 lead.

Malhotra/Sastropranoto were committing a host of unforced errors as the match headed to its conclusion. Cries of agitation from the players betrayed frustration as their shots bounced long or wide.

In the end, it was the more composed team that prevailed as Malhotra double faulted on match point. This completed a 6-1 sweep of the final set for Lee/Winata.

For the winning pair, this victory was especially sweet.

Lee, still reeling from an earlier loss in the singles final, found closure in winning the final match of the tournament.

On the other hand, Winata did not make it past the first round of the singles tournament; he retired from his first match due to injury.

He said: “Taking home the gold in the doubles definitely made up for disappointment in the singles.”