Top seeds in semi-finals of National Tennis C'ship

New Delhi: There were hardly any upsets on Thursday, paving the way for the top seeds to enter the singles semi-finals of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship here at the R.K. Khanna Tennis Complex.

Men's singles top seed Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan breezed into the last four with a clinical performance over fifth seed Ashwin Vijayaraghawan.

The Tamil Nadu player had little trouble against Ashwin winning 6-1, 6-2. In the semi-final, Jeevan will face third seed Siddharth Rawat who came back from a set down to defeat Vaidik Munshaw 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.

In the other quarter-final match, Ramkumar Ramanathan looked complete at ease as he strolled into the next round at the expense of Delhi boy Saurabh Singh 6-1, 6-2.

In the last quarter-final of the day, Arjun Khade had a tough opponent in 11th seeded Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash but the Maharashtra boy held his nerves right through the match to come out victorious with a 7-5, 6-4 verdict. Arjun will face Ramkumar for a place in the final.

In women's singles, the competition was heading for a similar script before Sri Vaishnavi Peddireddy knocked out fourth seed Shweta Rana in three sets.

Vaishnavi fought her way back into the match after being a set down to oust Shweta 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.

The top two seeds, Rishika Sunkara and Prerna Bhambri also won their respective matches and are very much on their way for a title clash Saturday.

While Rishika proved her top billing with a 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of eighth seed Vaniya Dangwal, Prerna eased past Delhi girl Simran Kaur Handa 6-0, 6-4.

While Rishika will have third seed Natasha Palha against her in the semifinals, Prerna will be up against promising Vaishnavi whose credentials are good enough to cause an upset.

Natasha fought a tough first set against fifth seed Eettee Maehta before getting her act together to advance into the next stage with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win.

In the boys U-18 doubles final, No.1 seeds Anvit Bendre and Abdullah Shaikh won the title with a convincing 6-4, 6-0 over Shailender Boniface and Gary Tokas 6-4, 6-0.

In the boys U-18 Singles, all three seeds had a good run. The top seed from Andhra Pradesh, Rishab Agarwal, beat M. Sai Nikhil 6-1, 6-0. Second seed Shaikh Abdullah beat Ranjeet Singh 6-0, 7-5 while No.3 seed Karan Salwan from Delhi beat Hardeep Sandhu 7-5, 6-4.

In the girls U-18 singles, two seeds were upset as Tarranum Handa beat top seed Simran Sethi 6-3, 6-4 and Pranjala Yadlapalli beat 11th seed Amrita Mukherjee 6-3, 6-3. No.4 seeded C. Sai Samhitha beat Rimpledeep Kaur 6-4, 6-0.

In the women's doubles semifinals, Treta Bhattacharya and Natasha Pahla had an easy win against fourth seeds Tarannum Handa and Manya Nagpal beating them 6-1, 6-1. Seeded third, Prerna Bhambri and Rishika Sunkara beat top seeds Sri V. Peddireddy and Prarthana Thombare 3-6, 6-1, 10-8.

Results:

Men Singles: Jeevan Nedeuchez bt Ashwin Vijayaraghawan 6-1, 6-2; Ramkumar Ramana bt Saurabh Singh 6-1, 6-2; Siddharth Rawat bt Vaidik Mushaw 1-6, 6-2, 6-1; Arjun Kadhe bt Mohit M. Jayaprakash 7-5, 6-4.

Women's singles: Rishika Sunkara bt Vaniya Dangwal 6-1, 6-2; Natasha Palha bt Eetee Maehta 7-6(5), 6-3; Sri V. Peddireddy bt Shweta C. Rana 1-6, 6-2, 6-1; Prerna Bhambi bt Simran Sethi 6-0, 6-4.

U-18 boys singles: Karan Salwan bt Hardeep Sandhu 7-5, 6-4; Rishab Agarwal bt M. Sai Nikhil 6-1, 6-0; Neeraj Elangovan bt A.K. Pardhasaradi 6-2, 7-5; Shaikh Abdullah bt Ranjeet Singh 6-0, 7-5.

U-18 girls singles: Tarranum Handa bt Simran Sethi 6-3, 6-4; C. Sai Samhitha bt Rimpledeep Kaur 6-4, 6-0; Pranjala Yadlapalli bt Amrita Mukherjee 6-3, 6-3; Nehal Sahni bt Himani Mor 6-4, 6-1.

Women's doubles: Treta Bhattacharya and Natasha Pahla bt Tarannum Handa and Manya Nagpal 6-1, 6-1; Prerna Bhambri and Rishika Sunkara bt Sri V. Peddireddy and Prarthana Thombare 3-6, 6-1, 10-8.

U-18 boys doubles: Anvit Bendre and Abdullah Shaikh bt Shailender Boniface and Gary Tokas 6-4, 6-0.