Local boy Rakshit Dhankar stuns 3rd seed Khate in CLTA-AITA tournament
Chandigarh, May 21
Local challenger Rakshit Dhankar stunned third seed Nagaland’s Vilasier Khate in straight sets to storm into the men’s quarterfinals during the CLTA-AITA National Ranking Tennis Championship at the Sector 10 CLTA Complex.
Dhankar logged a 6-3, 6-3 win over Khate to cement his place further in the tournament. Meanwhile, another local contender, top seed Neeraj Yashpaul also moved ahead by defeating Haryana’s Parv Nage 6-4, 6-3. Gujarat’s Vatsal Manikantan defeated Eklavya Singh of Jharkhand 6-4, 6-1, while fifth seed Delhi’s Moksh Puri easily overpowered Haryana’s Rohan Mittal 6-1, 6-1.
Punjab’s Paramveer Bajwa faced some resistance before trouncing Maharashtra’s Nirav D Shetty 7-6(5) in the first set. However, in the following set, Bajwa logged a comfortable 6-1 win. Fourth seed Delhi’s Rhythm Malhotra ousted Joy Das of Uttar Pradesh 6-0, 6-1 and Jaishnav Bajirao Shinde of Maharashtra defeated Haryana’s Ajay Kundu 6-3, 6-3. Karnataka’s Suraj R Prabodh also moved further by winning the last match over Manipur’s Bhushan Haobam 6-3, 6-2.
In the men’s doubles quarterfinals, top seed pair of Vilasier Khate and Suraj R Prabodh defeated Pagalavan D and Shorya Jishtu 6-2, 6-3. Prav Nage and Ajay Kundu also moved ahead by defeating Bhushan Haobam and Shanker Heisnam 6-2, 6-4. The team of Neeraj and Eklavya Singh ousted Prag Sheron and Trishan Dhawan 6-3, 6-1. Nirav D Shetty and Alok Hajare won the last match by defeating Manjot Singh Ahuja and Harnoor Singh Ramana 6-4, 6-4.
