JOIN USPrerna survives Prarthana challenge
Second-seeded Prerna Bhambri saved two match points before digging out a 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (8-6), 6-0 victory over a gutsy Prarthana Thombare in the women’s singles first round of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA complex on Tuesday.
An off-colour Prerna was slow to get off the blocks but the Delhi girl hung on to survive a gruelling three-hour and 20-minute match on a sultry afternoon.
Prarthana, who won the under-18 national championship here last year, gave a good account of herself as she matched Bhambri stroke for stroke but could not maintain the momentum.
The Maharashtra girl had the match in her grip when — after recovering from an early break in the second set — she held two match points in the 12th game, only to fritter them away. Under pressure, Prerna didn’t compromise on her attacking game and continued to go for the lines. It worked as she eked out a close second-set tie-breaker to draw parity. Prarthana sought medical attention soon after the second set and Prerna simply ran away with the decider.
“I was expecting it to be a tough match. It is good to have such a tight match with two close tie-breaks in the first round. I was slow to start with but later I worked to keep the ball in play and kept her on the move,” said Prerna, who next plays Tarranum Handa.
In other women’s singles matches top seed Rishika Sunkara breezed past Likitha Shetty 6-3, 6-0 to set up a second-round clash with Maharashtra girl Devanshi Bhimjiyani.
In the men’s singles, third-seeded Siddharth Rawat rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Kunal Anand while the fourth seed P C Vignesh knocked out Yannick Nelord 6-3, 6-4.
Fifth-seeded Ashwin Vijayaraghavan overcame first set resistance from Rohan Gide to win 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Arjun Khade scored a facile 6-1, 6-4 win over Antony Elwin, while Saurabh Singh got the better of Suraj Beniwal 6-2, 7-6.
In the boys’ singles, Karan Salwan scored a hard-fought 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 win over Minki Talom.
Neeraj Elangovan too made it to the second round after rallying to down Anvit Bendre 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.
Results (first round): Men: Vinod Sridhar bt B Sai Saran Deep 6-2, 6-1; Ajai Selvaraj bt Jatin Dahiya 7-5, 7-5; Ronak Manuja bt Brahmjot Singh 6-3, 6-2; Ramkumar Ramnathan bt Nitten Kirrtane 6-3, 6-2; P C Vignesh bt Yannick Nelord 6-3, 6-4; Ashwin Vijayaraghavan bt Rohan Gide 7-6, 6-3; Arjun Khade bt Antony Elwin 6-1, 6-4; Siddharth Rawat bt Kunal Anand 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Saurabh Singh bt Suraj Beniwal 6-2, 7-6.
Women: Prerna Bhambri bt Prarthana Thombare 6-7, 7-6, 6-0; Rishika Sunkara bt Likitha Shetty 6-3, 6-0; Simran Sethi bt Treta Bhattacharya 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; C Sai Samhitha bt Victoria Chahal 6-3, 6-0; Vineeta Singh bt Arushi Bhasin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Bhuvana Kalva bt Smriti Joon 6-3, 6-2; C Sai Samhitha bt Victoria Chahal 6-3, 6-0.
Boys: Karan Salwan bt Minki Talom 5-7, 6-1, 6-3; Keneizotuo Whourie bt Nischay Rawal 6-1, 6-3; Sachin Kumar bt Dhruv Pal 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Vilaser Khate bt Lavish Nehra 6-3, 6-3; M Sai Nikhil bt Vishu B Prasad 6-1, 6-1; Neeraj Elangovan bt Anvit Bendre 5-7, 6-1, 6-3; Suraj R Prabhod bt Fatehdeep Singh 6-3, 6-1; Rishi Rakshit bt Rahul Singh 6-4, 6-4; Hardeen Sandhu bt Rithvik Anand 2-6, 6-0, 6-4; Yash Devpande bt Akhil Reddy 6-1, 6-1; A K Pardhasardhi bt B Sai Savan Reddy 6-1, 6-4; Gokul Suresh bt Aditya Gokhale 7-5, 6-3; B R Nikshep bt Abhinanshu Bortha 6-0, 6-3; Ranjeet Singh bt Indra Patwardhan 6-1, 6-0.
Girls: Shreya Pasricha bt Kanishka Chawla 6-1, 6-2; Isha Budwal bt Shambhavi Dixit 7-6, 6-3; Mahitha Dadireddy bt B Moulika Ram 6-2, 6-1; Zeel Desai bt Vanshika Sawhney 6-3, 6-2; Gunuganti Sruta Kir bt Karman Kaur Thand 2-6, 6-2, 6-4; Rajbir Kaur bt Teertha Iska 7-5, 7-5; Rimpledeep Kaur bt Snehal Mane 6-2, 6-2; Pasula Rashmitha Reddy bt Nehal Sahni 6-2, 6-0; Amrita Mukherjee bt Eeahita Pande 6-0, 6-1.