New Delhi: There were upsets galore on Thursday with Udayan Bhakar accounting for another big fish on his way to the under-16 boys’ semi-finals of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship. Udayan drew curtains on second seed Alex Solanki’s campaign at the Nationals with a 6-1, 6-3 win even as top seed B.R. Nikshep survived a tough battle against Venkata Gnan Paramatmuni before winning the contest 6-4, 7-6(2).
The others to make the cut for the semi-finals included fourth seed Aryan Goveas who defeated Sanil Jagtiani 6-3, 6-2, while third seed Paramveer Singh Bajwa overwhelmed Parikshit Somani 6-1, 6-0.
In the under-14 boys singles, it was end of the road for top seed Sumit Pal Singh. Sumit fell on the wayside with Danish Ahmad scoring a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win to reach the last-four stage.
Meanwhile, Digvijay Pratap Singh continued his impressive form to join Danish with another resounding victory, this time over Arghya Das. Digvijay powered his way into the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 verdict in his favour.
Third seed Nitin Kumar Sinha and fourth seed Yugal Bansal also made it to the next round. While Nitin had it easy against Shramay Dhawan (6-0, 6-2), Yugal also eased past Sivadeep Kosaraju 6-1, 6-3.
In the girls under-16 quarter-finals, second seed Zeel Desai was shocked by Ramya Natrajan, who had a fruitful day in the office on Thursday. Ramya defeated Zeel in the under-16 section 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 and then recorded a convincing 6-1, 6-4 win over Rishika Ravi in under-14 category to qualify for the semi-finals in both the categories.
Zeel, who is the top seed in the under-14 girls, however, had an easy outing against Jennifer Luikham who lost the quarter-finals 0-6, 5-7.
Aarja Chakraborty shocked second seed Snehal Mane in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-2 score-line.
Also making it to the semi-finals in under-14 girls was third seed Mihika Yadav, who beat Manasvi R.Siddareddy 6-1, 6-1.
In the girls under-16, top seed Akshara Iska and third seed Vanshika Sawhney moved into the semi-finals.
Boys 16 Singles
Paramveer Singh Bajwa Vs Parikshit Somani Winner Paramveer Singh Bajwa (Seed 3) 61,60
Sanil Jagtiani Vs Aryan Goveas Winner Aryan Goveas (Seed 4) 63,62
Udayan Bhakar Vs Alex Solanki (Seed 2) Winner Udayan Bhakar 61,63
BR Nikshep Vs Venkata Gnan Paramatmuni Winner BR Nikshep (Seed 1) 64,76 (2)
Girls 16 Singles
Vanshika Sawhney Vs Jennifer Luikham Winner Vanshika Sawhney 62,63
Ramya Natrajan Vs Zeel Desai (Seed 2) Winner Ramya Natrajan 26,76(3),62
R Abinikka Vs Snehal Mane Winner Snehal Mane 26,64,61
Akshara Iska Vs Rishika Ravi Winner Akshara Iska (Seed 1) 61,62
Boys 14 Singles
Nitin Kumar Sinha Vs Shramay Dhawan Winner Nitin Kumar Sinha (Seed 3) 60,62
Sumit Pal Singh (Seed 1) Vs Danish Ahmad Winner Danish Ahmad 46,62,62
Sivadeep Kosaraju Vs Yugal Bansal Winner Yugal Bansal (Seed 4) 61,63
Arghya Das Vs Digvijay Singh Winner Digvijay Singh 64,62
Girls 14 Singles
Zeel Desai Vs Jennifer Luikham Winner Zeel Desai (Seed 1) 60,75
Mihika Yadav Vs Manasvi R Siddareddy Winner Mihika Yadav (Seed 3) 61,61
Ramya Natrajan Vs Rishika Ravi Winner Ramya Natrajan 61,64
Aarja Chakraborty Vs Snehal Mane (Seed 2 ) Winner Aarja Chakraborty 63,62