Ranking c’ship: Varun stuns top seed Mohit, enters main draw

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 11  

Varun Sharma stunned top seed Mohit Bhardwaj in a final qualifying round match of the men’s category in the ongoing CLTA-AITA National Ranking Tennis Championship, being played at the Sector 10 CLTA Complex, on Sunday. 

Varun won the first set 6-3, but Mohit retaliated in the second with a 6-4 win. 

In the final set, Varun took advantage of an early lead to log a 6-4 win. Second seed Sultan Singh Atwal had a easy day as he defeated Harshit Yadav 6-1 6-4 and third seed Bharat Bhardwaj also won easily against Uday Jyoti Das 6-0 6-0. Fourth seed Keneisezotuo Whourie overpowered Manveer Singh 6-2 6-0, while fifth seed Sawan Malik also logged an easy 6-0 6-1 victory against Jitin Kumar Chetry. Sixth seed Shashikant Rajput moved into the main draw by defeating Ranjeet Singh 7-5 6-1 and seventh seed Parav Dev Garg defeated Harshom Gupta 6-3 6-2. 

In the last match, local favourite Rishabh Sharda overpowered Simarveer Singh 6-0 6-2. Earlier, in the second round, he defeated Mayank Yadav 9-1. 

Meanwhile, in the women’s single category, top seed Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa registered an easy 6-3 6-0 win against Pawandeep Kaur. Second seed Harleen Kaur also moved ahead by defeating Adity Dogra 6-0 6-1, while unseeded Princy Panchal stunned third seed Sukhmani Sahota 6-3 6-0. In other easy matches, fourth seed Kanishka Gowthaman defeated Aditi Singh 6-4 7-5, while fifth seed Prarthana Divedi overpowered Simarjeet Kaur 6-1 6-0. 

Sixth seed Amarjot Kaur beat Mrinalini Sharma 6-3 6-1 and seventh ranked Priya Nayak defeated Vrinda Sharma 7-5 6-1. Alisha Menon also advanced to the next round by defeating Gayatri Kumariaha 7-6 (3) 6-4. 

The  main draw matches of both men and women categories will be held on Monday.  

Results   

Men: Varun Sharma bt Mohit Bhardwaj 6-3 4-6 6-4, Sultan Singh Atwal bt Harshit Yadav 6-1 6-4, Bharat Bhardwaj bt Uday Jyoti Das 6-0 6-0, Keneisezotuo Whourie bt Manveer Singh 6-2 6-0, Sawan Malik bt Jitin Kumar Chetry 6-0 6-1, Shashikant Rajput bt Ranjeet Singh 7-5 6-1, Parav Dev Garg bt Harshom Gupta 6-3 6-2, Rishabh Sharda bt Simarveer Singh 6-0 6-2 

Women: Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa bt Pawandeep Kaur 6-3 6-0, Harleen Kaur bt Adity Dogra 6-0 6-1, Princy Panchal bt Sukhmani Sahota 6-3 6-0, Kanishka Gowthaman bt Aditi Singh 6-4 7-5, Prarthana Divedi bt Simarjeet Kaur 6-1 6-0, Amarjot Kaur bt Mrinalini Sharma 6-3 6-1, Priya Nayak bt Vrinda Sharma 7-5 6-1, Alisha Menon bt Gayatri Kumariaha 7-6(3) 6-4