Ajay, Nithya shown the door

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 13

It was a day of upsets in the CLTA-AITA National Ranking Tennis Championship as unranked players prevailed over their seeded counterparts at the CLTA Complex Sector 10, here on Wednesday. 

In the men’s category, unranked Vipul Mehta of Delhi stunned fourth seed Jaydeep Singh Chudasama of Gujarat 6-4 6-4 to make it to the semifinals.

In another quarterfinal, local lad Calvin Golmei came from behind to pack off fifth seed Yuvraj Singh of Haryana.

Golmei lost the first set 6-7(5), but fought his way back into the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. He then beat Yuvraj 6-4 in the decider to ensure a place in the last-four stage. 

Eighth seed Sunil Malik outplayed his Haryana counterpart and second seed Ajay Malik 6-3 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Top seed Ishaque Eqbal, though, lived up to his billing as he humbled Arghya Das 6-4 6-3 to stay on course for the final.

Nithya ousted 

In the women’s quarterfinals, Bhuvana Kalva from Telangana stunned top seed Nithya Raj Babu Raj from Tamil Nadu in a three setter.

Nithya won the opening set 6-2, but Bhuvana bounced back and won the remaining two sets 6-4 6-1 to seal a spot in the semifinals. 

Gujarat’s Saumya Vig downed Vanshika Choudhary of Uttar Pradesh 6-4 6-2, while fourth seed Dakshata Patel of Maharashtra dumped Punjab’s Sarah Dev 6-3 6-3 in the quarterfinals. 

Maharashtra’s Sharannya Vijay Gaware, meanwhile, continued her impressive run in the tournament with a convincing 6-3 6-2 win over Sara Yadav of Madhya Pradesh.

Yash-Ishaque in semis

In the men’s doubles quarterfinals, top seed pair of Yash Yadav and Ishaque Eqbal dismissed Calvin Golmei and Shashikant Rajput 6-2 6-2, while third seeds Shimon Santosh Shastri and Aakash Nandwal overcame Nikhilesh Kanojia and Pagalavan D 6-3 5-7 10-5. 

Eklavya Singh and Abhiveer Singh Shekhawat beat fourth seeds Ominder Baisoya and Ranjeet Singh registered a 7-5 7-5. Haryana pair of Ajay Malik and Sunil Malik registered an identical win over Sanket Tomar and Udayan Bhakar of Gujarat. 

Yubrani-Shweta advance

Top seed pair of Yubrani Banerjee and Shweta Chandra Rana moved into the women’s doubles semifinals with a 6-4 6-2 win over Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa and Pooja Ingale. 

Sharannya Gaware and Sarah Dev beat fourth seed pair of Dakshata Patel and Himani Mor 6-7(2) 6-1 10-6.

Quarterfinals 

Men: Ishaque Eqbal bt Arghya Das 6-4 6-3, Vipul Mehta bt Jaydeep Singh Chudasama 6-4 6-4, Calvin Golmei bt Yuvraj Singh 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4, Sunil Malik bt Ajay Malik 6-3 6-3

Women: Bhuvana Kalva bt Nithya Raj Babu Raj 2-6 6-4 6-1, Saumya Vig bt Vanshika Choudhary 6-4 6-2, Dakshata Patel bt Sarah Dev 6-3 6-3, Sharannya Vijay Gaware bt Sara Yadav 6-3 6-2

Men’s dooubles: Yash Yadav/Ishaque Eqbal bt Calvin Golmei/Shashikant Rajput 6-2 6-2, Shimon Santosh Shastri/Aakash Nandwal bt Nikhilesh Kanojia/Pagalavan D 6-3 5-7 10-5, Eklavya Singh/Abhiveer Singh Shekhawat bt Ominder Baisoya/ Ranjeet Singh 7-5 7-5, Ajay Malik/Sunil Malik bt Sanket Tomar/Udayan Bhakar 7-5 7-5

Women’s doubles: Yubrani Banerjee/Shweta Rana bt Ashpreet Bajwa/Pooja Ingale 6-4 6-2, Sharannya Gaware/Sarah Dev bt Dakshata Patel/Himani Mor 6-7(2) 6-1 10-6, Saumya/Nithya bt Aarthi Muniyan/Adrija Biswas 6-4 6-2