Top seed Basil Khuma reaches last four

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 15

Top seed Basil Khuma reached the semifinal of the men’s category during the ongoing CLTA-AITA National Ranking Championship being played at the Chandigarh Lawn tennis Association (CLTA) courts in Sector 10 today. He defeated Ayush Mintri in a three-set clash. Basil bagged the first set in a tie-breaker 7-6(3) but Ayush came back strongly to win the next without conceding a single game 0-6. In the final set, Basil concentrated on his game and blanked his opponent 6-0 to book his berth in the final four.

Earlier, in the pre-quarters, he defeated Jaideep Chudasama 8-0. In other match of the same category, sixth seed Digvijay Mehta too played a three-set match against Shrey Gupta before winning it. Digvijay opened with 6-3 but Shrey levelled the game with the score 5-7 in the next set. In the final set, Shrey failed to carry forward his game and lost the match 1-6.

Another qualifier Paramveer Bajwa played against Sultan Atwal. Sultan conceded defeat (2-5) after suffering from back injury.

Meanwhile, eighth seed Yugal Bansal also reached the semifinal. His opponent Jajbir Singh left the match after losing the first set 5-7. Jajbir suffered from cramps and could not his game.

In the women’s category, Simran Kejriwal defeated Gayatri Kumaraiah in straight sets 6-1 and 6-2 while sixth seed R Abinika posted 6-2 and 6-3 win over Baani Singh.

Fourth seed Vaidehi Chaudhary defeated Prakriti Banwani 6-3 and 6-2. In another match, Ishwari Seth upset second seed Nida Kamal 6-4 and 6-3.