Tamil Nadu’s Fahad Mohammed and Gujarat’s Maulin Aghara scored contrasting wins in the men’s singles final qualifying round matches of the J.S. Pereira Memorial AITA Ranking Rs 2 lakhs Men’s Tennis Tournament, organized and hosted by the Bandra Gymkhana and played at their floodlit tennis courts onMonday.
The top seed in the qualifying draw, Mohammed was in complete control against Maharashtra’s unseeded Jaganmaya Panigrahi and coasted to a quick 6-4, 6-0 victory and book a place in the main draw, which commences from Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Aghara faced a bit of struggle against unfancied Antariksh Mohandas of Maharashtra and was taken the distance before winning a tight third set tie-breaker to come through the qualifiers. The Gujarat player prevailed at 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2).
Meanwhile, Arthav Neema of Madhya Pradesh, Munshaw Vaidik of Guajarat and Suraj H. of Kerala, all three easily won the final round matches and have also booked their berths in the main draw.
In Men’s doubles first round action, the top-seeded pair of Ishaque Eqbal of West Bengal and Yash Yadav of Madhya Pradesh eased to a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 victory against Amarnath Arora of Delhi and Paramveer Singh Bajwa of Punjab.
Results – Men’s singles (final qualifying round): Fahad Mohammed (TN) bt Jaganmaya Panigrahi (MH) 6-4, 6-0; Arthav Neema (MP) bt Mohit Bharadwaj (DL) 6-4, 6-0; Nishant Mehta (MH) bt Rishabhdev Raman (TN) 6-2, 2-0(retd), Maulin R. Aghara (GJ) bt Antariksh Mohandas (MH) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2); Munshaw Vaidik (GJ) bt Tarun Karra (TS) 6-3, 6-3; Praneet Kudale (MH) bt Aayush Sunil Bhandari (TS) 6-2, 6-1; Suraj H. (KL) Shastri Shimon (MH) 6-4, 6-3; Gunjan Jadhav (MH) bt Rishabh Kalokhe (MH) 6-0, 6-0.
Men’s Doubles (1st round): Ishaque Eqbal (WB)/ Yash Yadav (MP) bt Amarnath Arora (DL)/Paramveer Sing Bajwa (PB) 6-4, 6-4; Shastri Shimon (MH)/Raghav Jaisinghani (MP) bt Vishal Shingh (MH)/Shekhar Jaishwal (MH) 6-4, 6-3; Suraj H. (KL)/Umair Shaik (AP) bt Srinivas K. (AP)/Apuroop Reddy P. (TS) 6-2, 6-4; Tarun Karra (TS)/Arthav Neema (MP) bt Prajapati Soti (MH)/Rathod Sachin (MH) 6-4, 6-3.