Unseeded players oust top seeds to sail further

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, May 12 

Punjab’s Sarabjot Singh played extremely well to register a stunning straight sets win against top seed Ajay Singh of Haryana in a final qualifying round match of the boys’ U-16 category, on the second day of the CLTA-AITA Super Series Tennis Tournament, at the Sector 10 CLTA Complex, on Sunday. 

Sarabjot registered a 6-4 6-4 easy victory to ousted the top seed from the tournament. 

In another major upset, the local contender and 10th seed Gaurav Kumar defeated second seed Aryan Thakur after a neck to neck fight. The see-saw battle started in the first set, when both Kumar and Thakur played at par (6-6) to take it to the tie-break. Kumar managed to held his nerves as he closed the set in his favour by 7-6(2). He somehow loosened the grip on the match in the second set and went down 2-6. However, in the decider, he bounced back strongly to log a 6-3 before confirming his main draw berth. 

Another qualifier and local player Parth Goel also stormed into the main draw by defeating third seed Haryana's Himanshu Sharma in straight sets 6-2 6-3.

Rakshit Dhankar also logged a stunning win against fifth seed Sukhraj Singh of Punjab. Dhankar won the opening set 7-6(2), before facing a 4-6 defeat in the next set. In the final set, he maintained a good show to pull off a 6-1 victory over his rival. 

Fourth seed Abay Yuvraj Singh of Haryana meanwhile logged an easy 6-1 6-0 win against Punjab’s Aryan Arora, while Hardik Choudhary of Uttar Pradesh stunned 12th seed Haryana’s Ajnabi Dhaiya 6-1 7-5. Seventh seed Lakshay Batra of Haryana also moved ahead by defeating local contender and 11th seed Aditya Chauhan 6-4 6-4, while 15th seed Yashsvi Hooda defeated eighth seed  Gurnoor Singh Kular of Punjab 7-6(4) 6-3.

Suvrat stuns third seed Siddharth 

In the boys’ U-18 category, Delhi's Suvrat Mall improved from one set down to defeat third seed Siddharth Basaiti of Haryana. Mall went down 1-6 in the opening set, however improved in the second set by recording a 6-1 win. 

It was a tough decider as both the players played well, however Mall managed to win the match on a tie-break 7-6(1). Anand Prakash Gupta of Uttar Pradesh also logged a comeback win against Dhanya K Shah of Gujarat. Gupta logged a 0-6 6-3 6-4 victory against Shah. Second seed Ashwin Mudar Bhat of Karnataka easily moved ahead by defeating Punjab’s Navya Verma 6-2 6-1, while 11th seed Torus Rawat of Uttarakhand defeated Manveer Singh of Punjab 6-2 6-0.  Ajay Kundu of Haryana defeated his state mate Jasmeet Duhan 6-4 6-3, while Gourav Gulia of Haryana registered 6-0 6-1 win against Samar Bir Singh Sidhu. 

In the last match, Delhi's Tushar Madan defeated 13th seed Divanshu Hooda 6-2 6-4. 

Mehar overpowers top seed in girls’ U-18 event

Meher Mishra of Uttar Pradesh stunned top seed Anoushka Sharma of Rajasthan in a girls’ U-18 qualifying match. Mehar lost the first set 3-6, but returned with a 6-2 6-3 victory for the main draw. West Bengal contender Shreya Chakraborty also recorded a comeback victory against second seed Jannat Kaur Anand of Delhi 3-6 6-1 6-3. 

Local contender Radhika Vasudeva defeated fourth seed Sukhmani Sahota of Punjab 6-1 6-2, while fifth seed Bala Gayathri Singdha of Karnataka overpowered Konika Singh Dhull 6-3 6-1. Punjab’s Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa stunned sixth seed Kritika Sansanwal 6-2 6-1 and seventh seed Anjali Rathi of Haryana also recorded a 6-4 4-6 7-5 victory against Sweta Samanta.  Second seed Mahika Amit Gupta of Maharatsra reached into the main draw round of the girls' U-16 category by defeating Bhumika Gupta 6-1 6-1. Third seed Harleen Kaur Dhanda of Punjab overpowered Snigdha Sran of Chandigarh 6-1 1-6 6-2. Another local player Bhumi Kakkar defeated fourth seed Maitreyi Phogat 7-6(2) 7-5. Fifth seed Vanya Arora of Haryana also moved further by defeating Khushi Sharma 6-0 6-0 without conceding a single game, while Vishita Ranbir Kumar defeated sixth seed Yashika Sharma 6-1 7-6(5). Seventh seed Avneet Kaur of Punjab overpowered Anandita Sharma 6-0 7-6(0) and in the last match eighth seed Ananya Dogra defeated Simar Atwal 6-2 6-0.

Results (Final Qualifying)

Boys’ U-16 

Sarabjot Singh bt Ajay Singh 6-4 6-4, Gaurav Kumar bt Aryan Thakur 7-6(2) 2-6 6-3, Parth Goel bt Himanshu Sharma 6-2 6-3, Abay Yuvraj Singh bt Aryan Arora 6-1 6-0, Rakshit Dhankar bt Sukhraj Singh 7-6(2) 4-6 6-1, Hardik Choudhary bt Ajnabi Dhaiya 6-1 7-5, Lakshay Batra bt Aditya Chauhan 6-4 6-4, Yashsvi Hooda bt Gurnoor Singh Kular 7-6(4)  6-3

Boys’ U-18 

Anand Prakash Gupta bt Dhanya K Shah 0-6 6-3 6-4, Ashwin Mudar Bhat bt Navya Verma 6-2 6-1, Suvrat Mall bt Siddharth Basaiti 1-6 6-1 7-6(1), Torus Rawat bt Manveer Singh 6-2 6-0, Ajay Kundu bt Jasmeet Duhan 6-4 6-3, Gourav Gulia bt Samar Bir Singh Sidhu 6-0 6-1, Tushar Madan bt Divanshu Hooda 6-2 6-4 

Girls’ U-18 

Meher Mishra bt Anoushka Sharma 3-6 6-2 6-3, Shreya Chakraborty bt Jannat Kaur Anand 3-6 6-1 6-3, Radhika Vasudeva bt Sukhmani Sahota 6-1 6-2, Bala Gayathri Singdha bt Konika Singh Dhull 6-3 6-1, Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa bt Kritika Sansanwal 6-2 6-1, Anjali Rathi bt Sweta Samanta 6-4 4-6 7-5, Disha Sehrawat bt Hannah Nagpal 6-2 3-6 7-5

Girls’ U-16 

Mahika Amit Gupta bt Bhumika Gupta 6-1 6-1, Harleen Kaur Dhanda bt Snigdha Sran 6-11-6 6-2, Bhumi Kakkar bt Maitreyi Phogat 7-6(2) 7-5, Vanya Arora bt Khushi Sharma 6-0 6-0, Vishita Ranbir Kumar bt Yashika Sharma 6-1 7-6(5), Avneet Kaur bt Anandita Sharma 6-0 7-6(0), Ananya Dogra bt Simar Atwal 6-2 6-0