KATHMANDU: Jitendra Pariyar and Lindsay Sulivan claimed the singles titles of the first Athletes In Action (AIA) Open Tennis Tournament on Saturday. Jitendra defeated Rajesh Chhetry 6-3, 6-1 in the men’s singles final at the Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) courts in Halchowk, while Sulivan, a member of the touring AIA group of the US, routed local favourite Malika Rana 6-1, 6-1 in the women’s final. In the absence of top players like Kumar Adhikari, Sri Ram Kunwar and Ramesh Karki, Jitendra had a relatively easy time to capture the trophy. The top three players opted out of the tournament because of their personal reasons. In the women’s section final, Lindsay was too good for Malika. Lindsay broke Malika in the second game for a 2-0 lead. Malika broke back immediately but then faltered to lose the set 6-1. In the second, Lindsay went 3-0 up before Malika broke her in the next game. But the local favourite was too far from matching Lindsay’s returns. Malika, down 5-1 in the second set, fought hard to deny Lindsay the championship point on her serve. She saved four break points before hitting the net in the deuce No 7. Nepal No 1 Priti Rijal was out of action due to injury, while No 2 Kalpana Thapa Magar crashed out early on. Earlier, Uttam Lama defeated Prithvi Thakali 6-4, 6-2 in the veterna’s (above 45) singles final. On Friday, Lindsay teamed up with Jac Tsai to win the mixed doubles title beating Jitendra and Malika. Sanu Gurung won the veteran (above 35) singles title on Thursday. Of the total cash prize of Rs 100,000, men and women’s singles winners got Rs 20,000 each, while the runners up received Rs 10,000 apiece. Winners of the mixed doubles and veteran’s (above 35) singles got Rs 13,000 each and the runners up Rs 7,000 each. A total of 78 players including 11 women players took part in the tournament organised by AIA under the auspices of All Nepal lawn Tennis Association. Nepal Campus Crusade for Christ (NCCC) was the main sponsor of the seven-day event.