New Delhi, Oct 14 Several seeded players suffered shock defeats in the third round of the singles events at the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship here on Wednesday.
However, the boys’ U-16 and boys’ U-14 respective top seeds Ribhav Saroha and Aarav Challani advanced to the quarterfinals.
Second-seeded Lakshya Chukka was knocked out of the boys’ U-16 event after losing 2-6, 4-6 to Haryana’s Harsh Marwaha, while third seed Paranjay Siwach went down 4-6, 4-6 to West Bengal’s Monodip Dey, seeded 12th.
Marwaha said he was pleased with his performance, particularly in the second set, as he set up a quarterfinal clash against his doubles partner Vivaan Mirdha.
Saroha, who won the boys’ U-18 title last week, continued his impressive run with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over 13th seed Gyansh Manchanda. He will next face unseeded P Nallagundla, who defeated 16th seed Anay Pandey 6-1, 6-2.
Saroha admitted that shoulder pain affected his serving but expressed satisfaction at reaching the last eight.
In the girls’ U-16 event, second seed Tanusshri Sathesh followed top seed Deepthi Venkatesan, who was eliminated a day earlier, out of the competition after suffering a 5-7, 1-6 defeat against Karnataka’s Pooja Nagaraj in the round of 16.
Third seed Aaradhya Meena, fifth seed Akshita Anthil and seventh seed Ranjahna Sangram were among those who advanced to the quarterfinals.
The girls’ U-14 draw also witnessed an upset as top seed Sarena Gahlot lost 4-6, 6-7 (3) to Maharashtra’s Rishita Yadav. Fourth seed P Vattaprambil was also eliminated, while second seed Siddhi Pandey and third seed Zoha Qureshi progressed with straight-set victories.
In the boys’ U-14 category, top seed Aarav Challani defeated 13th seed Jegan Senthil 6-1, 6-2 to enter the quarterfinals. All the top five seeds in the category advanced to the last eight.
(PTI News)
