Ruma moves in twin quarterfinals

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17

Qualifier Ruma Ashutosh Gaikaiwari of Maharatsra logged a comeback win over top seed Delhi’s Kavya Khirwar to make her way into the girls’ U-18 quarterfinals in the ongoing St Stephen’s School CLTA-AITA Super Series Tennis Tournament, here today.

Kavya won the first set 2-6 but much to her surprise, Ruma improved her mistakes right on time to win the next two sets 7-5 6-4. In another upset, Lakshmi Prabha Arunkumar of Tamil Nadu blanked fifth seed Tanushri Pandey of Uttar Pradesh 6-4 6-1 in straight sets. Haryana’s Harnoor Kaur Sidhu also marched ahead by defeating Niharika Praveen Deshmukh of Telangana 6-3 7-6(0), while third seed Sai Rajesh Bhoyar of Maharashtra defeated local contender Konika Singh Dhull 6-1 6-1. Fourth seed Anjali Rathi also eased out by defeating Mansi Mahla of Rajasthan 6-2 6-0. In other one-sided matches, seventh seed Hannah Nagpal of Uttar Pradesh defeated Vanshita Malhotra 6-0 6-2, local challenger Radhika Vasudeva blanked eighth seed Haryana’s Hitakamya Singh Narwal 6-3 6-2 and Punjab’s Simran Pritam defeated Harleen Kaur Dhanda 6-3 6-2.

Top seed Haryana’s Krishan Hooda also confirmed his boys’ U-18 quarterfinal berth by defeating Ninaad Ravi of Karnataka 6-0 6-2. Delhi’s second seed contender Sammr Raina ousted Deep Munim of Madhya Pradesh 6-1 6-3.Third seed Haryana’s Bhupender Dahiya played calmly to overpower a tough fight by city’s Sarthak Gandhi. Dahiya lost the first set marginally by 5-7, but bounced back to win next two sets 6-3 6-2. Another lad from Haryana fifth seed Shashikant Rajput also marched eahd by defeating Punjab’s Gurustat Singh Makkar 6-1 6-3. His state-mate Ajay Singh defeated Delhi’s Abhik Arora 6-1 6-2 and Punjab’s strong contender Sukhpreet Singh Jhoje defeated Jitin Kumar Chetry 6-2 6-0. Torus Rawat of Uttarakhand also confirmed his place in the final-eight by defeating city’s Aryan Thakur 6-2 6-1 and Dhananjay Singh of Himachal Pradesh defeated seven seed Haryana’s Himanshu Duhan 6-2 6-3.

Daksh stuns top seed

In the boys’ U-16 category, Daksh Prasad of Madhya Pradesh defeated his state-mate and top seed Deep Munim. Prasad won the first set 6-3, but went down in the next 3-6. In the final set, he maintained a good pace to win it 6-3. Second seed Haryana’s Ajay Singh stormed into the next round by defeating Ninaad Ravi of Karnataka 6-3 6-2, whereas Adhirit Awal of Tamil Nadu registered a 6-4 6-3 win over Vitin Rathee of Haryana.

Local contender Sarthak Gandhi faced a neck to neck fight before registering a 6-3 3-6 6-4 victory over sixth seed Lakshay Vivek Kumar.

Seventh seed Punjab’s Jhoje, who successfully made his way into the U-16 quarterfinal, logged yet another one sided 6-1 6-0 win over Punjab’s Aryan Arora. Chandigarh’s Gaurav Kumar defeated Natansh Mina of Rajasthan 7-5 6-2, while another local contender Aryan Thakur faced a tough resistance before defeating Jaishnav Bajiroa Shindey of Maharashtra 6-7 7-5 7-6. Fifth seed Jitin Kumar Chetry also managaed to move into the next round by defeating Punjab’s Chahalpreet Singh 6-2 5-7 6-4.

Top seed Lakshmi moved into her second quarterfinal of the tournament. In the girls’ U-16 category pre-quarterfinal, she defeated Niharika Praveen Deshmukh of Telangana 6-1 6-1. Earlier, in the U-18 category, she stunned fifth seed Tanushri Pandey to move into the next round.

Second seed Anjali Rathi of Haryana defeated Yashika Venu of Tamil Nadu 6-2 6-0, while third seed Delhi’s Kavya Khirwar overpowered Rubani Kaur Sidhu of Uttar Pradesh 6-0 6-2. Four seed Sai Rajesh Bhoyar of Maharashtra blanked city’s Radhika Vasudeva 6-2 6-0, whereas fifth seed Tanushri Pandey of Uttar Pradesh blanked qualifier Pawandeep Kaur 6-1 6-2. Sixth seed Haryana’s Hitakamya Singh Narwal overpowered local contender Riya Kaushik 6-0 6-1, while Madhurima S Sawant of Maharashtra defeated seventh seed Punjab’s Harleen Kaur Dhanda 7-6(6) 6-1. Ruma once again played well to overpower eighth seed Meher Mishra of Uttar Pradesh 6-0 2-6 6-0.

Results (Pre-quarterfinals)

Boys’ U-18

Krishan Hooda bt Ninaad Ravi 6-0 6-2, Ajay Singh bt Abhik Arora 6-1 6-2, Bhupender Dahiya bt Sarthak Gandhi 5-7 6-3 6-2, Sukhpreet Singh Jhoje bt Jitin Kumar Chetry 6-2 6-0, Shashikant Rajput bt Gurustat Singh Makkar 6-1 6-3, Torus Rawat bt Aryan Thakur 6-2 6-1, Dhananjay Singh bt Himanshu Duhan 6-2 6-3, Sammr Raina bt Deep Munim 6-1 6-3

Boys’ U-16

Daksh Prasad bt Deep Munim 6-3 3-6 6-3, Sarthak Gandhi bt Lakshay Vivek Kumar 6-3 3-6 6-4, Adhirit Awal bt Vitin Rathee 6-4 6-3, Sukhpreet Singh Jhoje bt Aryan Arora 6-1 6-0, Gaurav Kumar bt Natansh Mina 7-5 6-2, Aryan Thakur bt Jaishnav Bajiroa Shindey 6-7 7-5 7-6, Jitin Kumar Chetry bt Chahalpreet Singh 6-2 5-7 6-4, Ajay Singh bt Ninaad Ravi 6-3 6-2

Girls’ U-18

Ruma Ashutosh Gaikaiwari bt Kavya Khirwar 2-6 7-5 6-4, Harnoor Kaur Sidhu bt Niharika Praveen Deshmukh 6-3 7-6(0), Sai Rajesh Bhoyar bt Konika Singh Dhull 6-1 6-1, Hannah Nagpal bt Vanshita Malhotra 6-0 6-2, Radhika Vasudeva bt Hitakamya Singh Narwal 6-3 6-2, Anjali Rathi bt Mansi Mahla 6-2 6-0, Lakshmi Prabha Arunkumar bt Tanushri Pandey 6-4 6-1, Simran Pritam bt Harleen Kaur Dhanda 6-3 6-2

Girls’ U-16

Prabha Arunkumar bt Niharika Praveen Deshmukh 6-1 6-1, Hitakamya Singh Narwal bt Riya Kaushik 6-0 6-1, Sai Rajesh Bhoyar bt Radhika Vasudeva 6-2 6-0, Madhurima S Sawant bt Harleen Kaur Dhanda 7-6(6) 6-1, Tanushri Pandey bt Pawandeep Kaur 6-1 6-2, Kavya Khirwar bt Rubani Kaur Sidhu 6-0 6-2, Ruma Ashutosh Gaikaiwari bt Meher Mishra 6-0 2-6 6-0, Anjali Rathi bt Yashika Venu 6-2 6-0