Program first for UOIT women's tennis at the OUA Championship

MARKHAM, Ont. – For the first time in UOIT women's tennis history, the Ridgebacks earned points at the OUA provincial championship which was hosted by York University at the Mayfair Parkway Tennis Club in Markham, Ont.

First-year commerce major Sankavy Premakumar (Scarborough, Ont.) advance to the flight four semi-finals with a straight sets victory over Rachel Barnett of McMaster. Premakumar dominated the match winning by set scores of 6-0 and 6-1.


In the semi's, Premakumar was not able to come out with her second straight win as she was defeated 2-0 against Roxana Soica of York.

Earning points in the team competition, UOIT finished in fifth place overall ahead of Waterloo and McMaster.

In the men's draw, UOIT played in some tight matches but ultimately fell just short.


Freshman Tushar Gaur (Mississauga) had UOIT's closest match in the quarter-finals as he was bested by Toronto's Christian Krustev in flight five. The mechanical engineering major lost by set scores of 6-3 and 7-6.

Kitso Leshope (Botswana) dropped a 6-4, 6-2 decision to David Kishlyansky of York in the flight two quarter-finals while Robert Petrican (Hamilton, Ont.), who reached the finals in 2012, lost a close 6-3, 6-4 match to Jake Morris of McMaster.

In the flight two doubles division, Petrican and Gaur suffered a heartbreaking 8-7 loss to Alakhshendra Sahu and Lee Follis of Waterloo.

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues and Western University Mustangs were crowned the 2013 OUA women's and men's tennis champions, respectively. The women's title is the 10th in program history for the Varsity Blues and the first since winning four in a row from 2004-07. The Mustangs, meanwhile, won their second straight men's title.

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