Nikshep, Shameema make it to two finals

In the only boys’ doubles semifinal that was played at the Tennis Excellence courts on Thursday, qualifiers KS Chiranthan and Arjun Muralidhar of Karnataka pulled off a stunning 4-2, 5-4 (7-3) win over third-seeded pair of Vatsin Thaker and Dhruv Sunish from Maharashtra to move into the final.

However, the girls’ under-14 doubles category saw the biggest fall of the day.  Top seeded Karnataka duo Shivani Manjanna and Gopika Madhu bowed out to qualifiers Reshma Ganapathy and Abinakka R 2-4, 0-4 in their respective semifinal encounters.

In the singles section, top seed B R Nikshep of Karnataka scored a hard fought 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Tamil Nadu’s S Ganesh to move into the boys’ under-14 final where he will take on fifth seed and team-mate Rahul B S, who posted a 6-2, 6-1 win over his state-mate Arjun Muralidhar.

Top seed Shameema A of TN will face Maharashtra’s Preeti Bhandurge in the girls’ under-14 final.

Results (semifinals, Karnataka unless mentioned):
Boys, U-14: 1-BR Nikshep bt S Ganesh (TN) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3; 5-Rahul BS bt Arjun Muralidhar 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles: KS Chiranthan/ Arjun Muralidhar bt 3-Vatsin Thaker/ Dhruv Sunish (Mah) 4-2, 5-4 (7-3).
U-12: 2-V Jeevan (TN) bt 4-Dhruv Sunish (Mah) 6-2, 6-3; 1-BR Nikshep bt 3-Vasisht C 6-1, 6-1.
Girls, under-14: 1-Shameema A (TN) bt 8-Shloka Kumar 6-7, 6-1, 6-2; 3-Preeti Bhandurge (Mah) bt 5-R Abinikka (TN) 6-1, 6-4.
Doubles: Reshma Ganapathy/ Abinakka R (TN) bt 1-Shivani Manjanna/ Gopika Madhu 4-2, 4-0; Soha S/ Dhwani Kumar bt Madumitha Meenakshi/ Honeyshya Raj (TN) 5-3, 4-1. U-12: 1-Shameema A (TN) bt 4-T Shrayashree (TN) 6-0, 6-1; 2-R Abinikka (TN) bt 5-R Sai Avanthika (TN) 6-4, 6-1.