Chirag leads Haryana boys’ charge into semis

Chandigarh, May 23 

Second seeded Chirag Duhan led the charge of players from Haryana into the boys’ singles semifinals at the 13th Ramesh Desai Memorial CCI U-16 Tennis Nationals in Mumbai on Thursday.

Duhan outplayed Mumbai’s Anargha Ganguly in straight sets in the quarterfinals. The Haryana lad won 6-2 6-1.

Joining him in the last-four stage were fourth seed Dhru Tangri of Punjab, fifth seed Krishan Hooda of Haryana and ninth seed Karan Singh, also from Haryana.

While Tangri registered a 6-3 6-1 win over Maharashtra’s Saheb Sodhi, Hooda outplayed state-mate Ajay Singh 6-2 6-0. Karan drubbed Madhya Pradesh’s Ayushman Arjeria 6-0 6-1 to seal a spot in the semifinals.

Renne advances 

In the girls’ quarterfinals, seventh seed Renne Singla of Haryana edged out Gujarat’s Vidhi Jani 6-0 6-2. Eight seed Pari Singh, also from Haryana, drubbed Karnataks’ Reshma Maruri 6-1 6-2, while Naisha Srivastav of Karnataka humbled Maharashtra’s Bhumika Tripathi 6-3 6-1. Top-seed Sanjana Sirimalla of Telengana lived up to her billing as she beat Diya Bhardwaj of Gujarat 6-4 7-5 to ease into the semifinals. 

Ajay-Krishan in final

Meanwhile, Haryana’s Ajay Singh and Krishan Hooda downed Delhi’s Sam Chawla and Akash Deb of Assam 6-2 6-1 to set up the title clash with Nikhil Niranjan of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh’s Denim Yadav.

Niranjan and Yadav registered a 6 -4 7-6(1) win over Deep Munim of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra’s Arjun Gohad.

Maharashtra’s Rutuja Chaphalkar and Hrudaya Shah downed state-mates and third seeded pair of Sai Bhoyar and Ishita Jadhav 6-3 6-0 in the girls’ doubles semifinals.

In the final, the top seeds will play fourth seeds Renne Singla of Haryana and Maharashtra’s Vaishnavi Adkar, who drubbed Tamil Nadu pair of Lakshmi Arunkumar and Karthika Vijay 6-0 6-3.

Quarterfinals

• Boys’ singles: Chirag Duhan bt Anargha Ganguly 6-2 6-1, Dhru Tangri bt Saheb Sodhi 6-3 6-1, Krishan Hooda bt Ajay Singh 6-2 6-0, Karan Singh bt Ayushman Arjeria 6-0 6-1
• Girls’ singles: Sanjana Sirimalla bt Diya Bhardwaj 6-4 7-5, Renne Singla bt Vidhi Jani 6-0 6-2, Pari Singh bt Reshma Maruri 6-1 6-2, Naisha Srivastav bt Bhumika Tripathi 6-3 6-1