Prakash Amritraj loses in final

Up-and-coming Indian tennis ace Prakash Amritraj faltered at the final hurdle in the $25,000 ATP Challenger tennis event in Uzbekistan on Saturday.

The second seeded US-born Indian went down fighting 4-6, 5-7 to top seed Igor Kunitsyn of Russia in his maiden final of a Challenger event.

Amritraj gained 35 ATP points for his showing in the tournament, at the Uzbek valley of Fergana, which is bound to push him into the top-230 in the ATP rankings.

In the semi-finals, Amritraj defeated Russian Kirill Ivanov Smolenski 6-4, 6-3 to make his first final appearance in an ATP Challenger event.