Kalyanpur, Tanvi enter semifinals

Dhruv edges out Sai Pranav in quarters

Karnataka’s Adil Kalyanpur and Tanvi Bhat Hatangadi stormed into the semifinals of the boys’ and girls’ singles respectively in the Karle Infra ATF under-14 Asian junior ranking tennis tournament here on Thursday.

Adil, ranked 91 on the ATF list and the second seed, demolished Tamil Nadu’s S M Aadhitiya 6-3, 6-2 in the boys quarterfinals. Aadhitya, who was plagued by double faults and unforced errors, couldn’t match his rival and went down tamely.
Tanvi, with an ATF rankng of 19, proved too good for Megha Muthukumar of Tamil Nadu and won 6-1, 6-0.

But the engrossing tie of the day was between the sixth seed Dhruv Sunish of Maharashtra and third seed Sai Pranav Ponka of Karnataka. Dhruv won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Pranav began brightly wrapping the first set with a  strong display of attacking tennis, but in the second set it was Dhruv who called the shots as he ran up a 4-1 lead and closed the set at 6-3. Ponaka’s woes continued in the decider too as he seemed distracted, while his aggressive rival made full use of his vocal chords as well as his racquet, to take the game away from Pranav in an emphatic manner.

Dhruv will take on Adil in the semifinals while the other semifinal will be between the top seed Siddanth Jagdish Banthia of Maharashtra and the fourth seed, Megh Patel of Gujarat. Megh, who hails from the small town of Patan, near Ahmedabad, defeated the eighth seed Yavin Soloman 6-2, 6-3 while the top seed, Siddant Jagdish Banthia beat the fifth seed Prakrut Patel 7-6(4), 6-1.

The girls singles quarterfinals were lop sided affairs, as besides Tanvi, Shivani Ingle of Maharshtra, and Shaikh Humera and Sama Sathiwika, both of AP, entered the semifinals. Shivani, a trainee of former Davis Cupper Sandeep Kirtane ended the run of Karnataka’s Muskaan Ranjan 6-2, 6-1. Second seed Sama Sathwika beat her AP team-mate Sivanuja Pedda 6-0, 6-1 and the fourth seed Shaikh Humera humbled Aaraja Chakraborty of West Bengal 6-1, 6-2.

  In the semifinals on Friday, Tanvi will meet Shivani while Sama will take on Humera.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka pair of Adil Kalyanpur and Sai Pranav Ponaka entered the boys doubles final with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Sai Krishna Vuthuraj and Durga Himakesh. In the final, the Karnataka duo will meet Siddant Jagdish Banthia and Dhruv Sunish, who beat Vamsi Krishna Ayneni and Gunapati Gaurav Reddy 6-3, 6-1.
In the girls doubles, Tanvi and her partner Aarja reached the final, beating Sama Sathvika and Shivani 6-4, 7-5.

Results: Boys singles (quarterfinals): Siddant Jagdish Banthia bt Prakrut Patel 7-6(4), 6-1; Megh Patel bt Yavin Soloman 6-2, 6-3; Dhruv Sunish bt Sai Pranav Ponaka 2-6, 6-3, 6-3; Adil Kalyanpur bt S M Aadhitiya 6-3, 6-2. Girls singles (quarterfinals): Tanvi Bhat Hatanadi bt Megha Muthukumar 6-1, 6-0; Shivani Ingle bt Muskaan Ranjan 6-2, 6-1; Shaikh Humera bt Aarja Chakraborty  6-1, 6-2; Sama Sahwika bt Sivanuja Pedda 6-0, 6-1. Boys doubles (semifinals): Adil Kalyanpur/ Sai Pranav Ponaka bt Sai Krishna Vuthuraj/ Durga Himakesh 6-3, 6-1. Girls doubles (semifinals): Tanvi Bhat Hatangadi/ Aarja Chakraborty bt  Sama Sathvika/ Shivani Ingle 6-4, 7-5.