Gurustat, Bhupender in title race

CHANDIGARH:Gurustat Singh Makkar stunned third seed Sukhpreet Singh Jhoje in straight sets to set up the title clash with Bhupender Dahiya in the boys’ U-16 category on the penultimate day of the St Stephen’s School CLTA-AITA Championship Series (CS-7) Tennis Tournament here on Thursday.

Gurustat Singh Makkar returns to Sukhpreet Singh Jhoje during their semifinal match in the St Stephen’s School CLTA-AITA Championship Series in Chandigarh on Thursday. Pradeep Tewari

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 20

Gurustat Singh Makkar stunned third seed Sukhpreet Singh Jhoje in straight sets to set up the title clash with Bhupender Dahiya in the boys’ U-16 category on the penultimate day of the St Stephen’s School CLTA-AITA Championship Series (CS-7) Tennis Tournament here on Thursday.

Seventh seed Makkar had to dig deep to seal the opening set 7-6(6), but he hardly broke a sweat to stun Jhoje 6-1 in the second set.

In the other semifinal, fifth seed Dahiya overcame sixth seed Sarthak Gandhi.

Dahiya won the opening set 6-2, but Gandhi fought his way back into the match with a 6-4 win in the second set. In the decider, Dahiya was leading 2-0 when Gandhi decided to concede the match.

Dahiya, though, lost his U-18 semifinal match to top seed Krishan Hooda 0-6 5-7.

In the final, Hooda will face second seed Uddayvir Singh, who registered a 6-3 6-3 win over third seed Shashikant Rajput in the semis.

Suryanshi, Simran advance

Top seed Suryanshi Tanwar, meanwhile, dismissed sixth seed Pawandeep Kaur 6-0 6-0 to ease into the girls’ U-16 final, where she will meet Simran Pritam.

Second seed Simran came from behind to trump a resilient Radhika Vasudeva.

Simran lost the first set 6-7(5), but came back strongly to win the next two sets 6-2 6-4 to stay in contention for the title.

In the girls’ U-18 semifinals, sixth seed Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa registered a 6-1 6-0 win over Radhika Vasudeva, while third seed Simran Pritam humbled eighth seed Pawandeep Kaur 6-2 6-4.

Top seeds Krishan Hooda and Uddayvir Singh, meanwhile, beat fourth seed pair of Yashvardhan Singh and Manveer Singh 6-4 6-3 to win the boys’ U-18 doubles title.

Semifinals

Boys’ U-16: Bhupender Dahiya bt Sarthak Gandhi 6-2 4-6 2-0 (conceded), Gurustat Singh Makkar bt Sukhpreet Singh Jhoje 7-6(6) 6-1
Boys’ U-18: Krishan Hooda bt Bhupender Dahiya 6-0 7-5, Uddayvir Singh bt Shashikant Rajput 6-3 6-3
Girls’ U-16: Suryanshi Tanwar bt Pawandeep Kaur 6-0 6-0, Simran Pritam bt Radhika Vasudeva 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4
Girls’ U-18: Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa bt Radhika Vasudeva 6-1 6-0, Simran Pritam bt Pawandeep Kaur 6-2 6-4