Aahida, Disha shine in spirited opening-day show at KSLTA J30 Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Aug 31 (IANS) Karnataka’s young tennis players produced a spirited performance on an action-packed opening day of the KSLTA World Tennis Tour Junior J30 Bengaluru, with several home players making their mark in the main draw and qualifying rounds at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium here on Monday.

Third seed Disha Kumar battled her way into the Round of 16 after a gruelling three-set contest against Sidhhi Pandey, prevailing 6-1, 6-7(3), 7-5. Fifth seed Aahida Singh also progressed, recovering from an early setback to register an impressive 6-3, 6-0 victory over Shazfa Wania SK.

Aahida’s win was among the standout performances by the Karnataka contingent. The 15-year-old found herself trailing 0-2 after dropping her opening two service games but responded strongly to take control of the contest. She won six of the next seven games to claim the opening set 6-3 before racing through the second set without conceding a game.

There were also fighting performances from Karnataka’s boys in the opening round of the main draw.

Fourteen-year-old Puneeth Manohar, competing in the Under-18 event, pushed Paranjay Siwach in the opening set before eventually going down 6-7(2), 1-6. Yash Kumar was involved in one of the longest contests of the day, taking his match against Shlok Chauhan into a deciding set before losing 6-1, 6-7(3), 5-7.

The final qualifying round brought mixed results for the home players.

Krishika Gautam secured her place in the main draw with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over Australia’s Arya Rajesh Patil. However, Riya Gangamma Pudiyokkada suffered a heartbreaking defeat after taking the opening set against Avipsha Dehury. Riya eventually lost 6-1, 2-6, 10-12 in a dramatic deciding tie-break.

Pooja Nagaraj was also involved in a closely fought contest, falling narrowly to Samradnyee Dalvi 6-4, 4-6, 13-15.

In the boys’ qualifying competition, Arjun Manikandan lost 0-6, 3-6 to Pradyumna Tatachar, while top seed Neel Kelkar and Rishi Yadav successfully booked their places in the main draw.

Elsewhere in the boys’ main draw, American third seed Niyanth Badrinarayanan defeated Manan Rai 6-4, 6-1, while eighth seed Nithinbarath KS overcame Parthiv Nallagundla 7-6(6), 6-4.

Fazal Ali Meer, seeded sixth, cruised past Great Britain’s Sairama Sriharshit Allam 6-0, 6-2, while Amrit Dhankar defeated China’s Lawani 7-6(3), 6-1. Vishwak Reddy Gunampally and Varad Undre also advanced.

In the girls’ draw, top seed Shaivi Gaurav Dalal began her campaign with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Dhaanvi Dechamma Kanjithanda. Tanusshri Maneni Sathesh recovered from a set down to beat USA’s Mithravinda Sathish 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Deepthi Venkatesan, eighth seed Riddhi Shinde, Bawyasri Asr, Banu Gnanasigamani Aswin and Akshita Antil were among the other players to progress to the next round.

Selected results (all Indians unless mentioned otherwise):

Boys Singles – Round of 32: Niyanth Badrinarayanan (USA) bt Manan Rai 6-4, 6-1; Paranjay Siwach bt Puneeth Manohar 7-6(2), 6-1; Vishwak Reddy Gunampally bt Malay Keyurbhai Minjrola 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Nithinbarath KS bt Parthiv Nallagundla 7-6(6), 6-4; Fazal Ali Meer bt Sairama Sriharshit Allam (GBR) 6-0, 6-2; Amrit Dhankar bt Lawani (CHN) 7-6(3), 6-1; Varad Undre bt Niranjan Ramalingam (USA) 4-6, 6-2, 2-1 (retd); Shlok Chauhan bt Yash Kumar 6-1, 6-7(3), 7-5.

Girls Singles – Round of 32: Shaivi Gaurav Dalal bt Dhaanvi Dechamma Kanjithanda 6-2, 6-1; Tanusshri Maneni Sathesh bt Mithravinda Sathish (USA) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2; Deepthi Venkatesan bt Tamanna Nair 6-1, 6-4; Aahida Singh bt Shazfa Wania SK 6-3, 6-0; Aditi Paturi (USA) bt Jahnavi Tammineedi 1-6, 6-1, 6-3; Riddhi Shinde bt Prachi Malik 6-3, 6-4; Bawyasri Asr bt Annika Thammineni 6-1, 6-3; Banu Gnanasigamani Aswin bt Aaniya Thammineni 6-2, 7-5; Akshita Antil bt Ilaiyanila Kannan 6-4, 6-3; Disha Kumar bt Sidhhi Pandey 6-1, 6-7(3), 7-5.

Boys Final Qualifying Round: Neel Kelkar bt Shreyas Narendran (USA) 6-4, 6-2; Pradyumna Tatachar bt Arjun Manikandan 6-0, 6-3; Rishi Yadav bt Atharva Sriramoju 6-3, 6-3; Mahijeet Pradhan bt Arya RC Thirumurthi (USA) 6-2, 2-0 (retd).

Girls Final Qualifying Round: Avipsha Dehury bt Riya Gangamma Pudiyokkada 1-6, 6-2, 12-10; Sanidhya Karantoth bt Sajhi Jain 6-2, 6-1; Krishika Gautam bt Arya Rajesh Patil (AUS) 6-2, 6-3; Samradnyee Dalvi bt Pooja Nagaraj 4-6, 6-4, 15-13.

–IANS

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