Bandra Gym J.S. Pereira AITA tennis report
Unseeded players Atharva Sharma of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh’s K. Srinivas both displayed plenty of resilience to score shock wins against second seed Paramveer Bajwa of Punjab and Delhi’s third seed Amarnath Arora in the men’s singles second 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 the Bandra Gym tennis courts on Wednesday.
K. Srinivas of Andhra Pradesh defeated Delhi’s third seed Amarnath Arora in three sets 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a second round match of the J.S. Pereira Memorial AITA Ranking (Rs 2 lakhs) Men’s Tennis Tournament.
Sharma played with determination and stunned Bajwa by winning a tight tie-breaker to pocket the first set. But he seemed to have lost focus as Bajwa made a strong reply and without dropping a game won the second to level the scores. In the deciding set, Maharashtra’s Sharma capitalized on the unforced errors from his Punjab opponent and went on the win the third to complete a 7-6(5), 0-6, 6-4 win to move into the quarter-finals.
The AP player Srinivas started hesitantly and struggled to keep pace with Delhi’s Arora who hit some fine passing shots to easily claim the first set. But, Srinivas got his act together and with slight change in tactics he started to play more aggressively which helped to win the next two frames to snatch a fighting 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory to also book a place in the last eight.
Gujarat’s Vaidik Munshaw stunned Maharashtra’s eighth seed Tejas Chaukulkar in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a second round match of the J.S. Pereira Memorial AITA Ranking (Rs 2 lakhs) Men’s Tennis Tournament.
Meanwhile, top seed Ishaque Eqbal of West Beengal and fifth seed Mohammed Fahad of Tamil Nadu stayed on course to advance in the quarter-finals. Eqbal lost just three game in defeating unseeded Raghav Jaisinghani of Madhya Pradesh 6-1, 6-2, while Fahad also enjoyed a relaxed time in breezing past Maharashtra’s Gunjan Jadhav 6-2, 6-1 in second round encounters.
Sixth seed Bharath Nishok Kumaran of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra’s eighth seed Tejas Chaukulkar, also crashed out in the second round. Kumaran lost to Rohan Bhatia of Maharashtra in three sets at 6-1, 4-6, 4-6, while Gujarat’s Vaidik Munshaw with some clever tactical ploy accounted for Chaukulkar pulling off a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win to progress to the quarters.
Results – Men’s singles (round-2): 1-Ishaque Eqbal (WB) bt Raghav Jaisinghani (MP) 6-1, 6-2; 5-Mohammed Fahad (TN) bt Gunjan Jadhav (MH) 6-2, 6-1; K Srinivas (AP) bt 3-Amarnath Arora (DL) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4; Vaidik Munshaw (GJ) bt 8-Tejas Chaukulkar (MH) 2-6, 6-4, 7-5; Shahbaaz Khan (MH) bt Praneet Kudale (MH) 6-0, 6-3; 4-Shivam Dalmia (DL) bt Yash Yadav (MP) 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3; Rohan Bhatia (MH) bt 6-Bharath Nishok Kumaran (TN) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4; Atharva Sharma (MH) bt 2-Paramveer Singh Bajwa (PB) 7-6(5), 0-6, 6-4.
Men’s Doubles (2nd round): Ishaque Eqbal (WB)/ Yash Yadav (MP) bt Shastri Shimon (MH)/Raghav Jaisinghani (MP) 6-4, 7-5; Tarun Karra (TS)/Arthav Neema (MP) bt Suraj H. (KL)/Umair Shaik (AP) 6-3, 4-6, 10-7; Mohit Bhardwaj (DL)/ Sagar Ahuja (MH) bt Arjun Mahadevan (TN)/Bharath Nisok Kumaran (TN) 6-4, 7-6(3); Shivam Dalmia (DL)/ Fahad Mohammed (TN) bt Atharva Sharma (MH)/Gunjan Jadhav (MH) 4-6, 6-1, 10-5.