<p>Local lad BR Nikshep eased past the challenge of Sagar Manjanna 6-4, 6-4 in the men’s singles first round of the DS Max AITA prize-money tennis tournament here at the KSLTA Stadium. <br /><br /></p>.<p>A wildcard at the event, Nikshep, who is coming into this tournament on the back of some solid performances, broke Manjanna in the seventh game of the first-set to clinch it 6-4 before breaking his opponent’s serve in the very first game of the second to take the set also by an identical scoreline. <br /><br />The day’s big upset saw the men’s third seed Saurav Sukul packed off by Shaikh Abdullah 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 in the first round itself. <br /><br />In the women’s section, Pragati Nataraj of Tamil Nadu and Adnya Naik entered the quarterfinals. Pragati beat Varunya Chandrashekar 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3 to advance, while Adnya Malik, who accounted for the top seed Manya Nagpal on Tuesday, maintained her form to power past Moulika Ram 6-1, 6-4. <br /><br />In another women’s pre-quarterfinal match, Asha Nandakumar, who came out of retirement, advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Damini Sharma.<br /><br /><br /><br />Results: Men’s singles (pre-quarterfinals): Nitten Kirrtane bt Manu Bajpai 6-1, 6-4.<br />First round: Manu Bajpai bt Irfan Hussain 6-3, 6-3; Vinod Sridhar bt Saurabh Patil 6-2, 6-2; BR Nikshep bt Sagar Manjanna 6-4, 6-4; Lakshit Sood bt Prajwal Dev 6-1, 7-6 (7-4); Vijay Kannan bt Sagar Ahuja 6-3, 7-5; Ramesh Vigneshwaran bt Taha Kapadia 6-3, 6-2; Rishabdev Raman bt S Prithvi 6-3, 2-6, 6-1; Shaikh Abudllah bt Saurav Sukul 7-6 (7-3), 7-5; Suraj R Prabodh bt Kumara P Saradhi 6-1, 6-3; Rishab Agarwal bt CD Ajay 6-1, 6-1; V Veerabhadran bt Arpit Sharma 6-0, 6-4; Mohit Mayur bt L Balaji 6-1, 7-6 (7-1).<br /><br />Women’s singles (pre-quarterfinals): Pragati Nataraj bt Varunya Chandrashekar 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3; Adnya Naik bt Moulika Ram 6-1, 6-4; Nithyaraj Baburaj bt Arushi Bhasun 6-7 (9-11), 6-3, 6-4; Smriti Joon bt Likita Shetty 6-3, 6-4; Riya Bhatia bt Amala Amol Warrick 6-0, 6-3; Asha Nandakumar bt Damini Sharma 6-2, 6-3; Amrita Mukherji bt Preeti Ujjini 6-3, 6-0; Sai Samhita bt Arantxa Andrady 6-4, 6-2.</p>
<p>Local lad BR Nikshep eased past the challenge of Sagar Manjanna 6-4, 6-4 in the men’s singles first round of the DS Max AITA prize-money tennis tournament here at the KSLTA Stadium. <br /><br /></p>.<p>A wildcard at the event, Nikshep, who is coming into this tournament on the back of some solid performances, broke Manjanna in the seventh game of the first-set to clinch it 6-4 before breaking his opponent’s serve in the very first game of the second to take the set also by an identical scoreline. <br /><br />The day’s big upset saw the men’s third seed Saurav Sukul packed off by Shaikh Abdullah 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 in the first round itself. <br /><br />In the women’s section, Pragati Nataraj of Tamil Nadu and Adnya Naik entered the quarterfinals. Pragati beat Varunya Chandrashekar 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3 to advance, while Adnya Malik, who accounted for the top seed Manya Nagpal on Tuesday, maintained her form to power past Moulika Ram 6-1, 6-4. <br /><br />In another women’s pre-quarterfinal match, Asha Nandakumar, who came out of retirement, advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Damini Sharma.<br /><br /><br /><br />Results: Men’s singles (pre-quarterfinals): Nitten Kirrtane bt Manu Bajpai 6-1, 6-4.<br />First round: Manu Bajpai bt Irfan Hussain 6-3, 6-3; Vinod Sridhar bt Saurabh Patil 6-2, 6-2; BR Nikshep bt Sagar Manjanna 6-4, 6-4; Lakshit Sood bt Prajwal Dev 6-1, 7-6 (7-4); Vijay Kannan bt Sagar Ahuja 6-3, 7-5; Ramesh Vigneshwaran bt Taha Kapadia 6-3, 6-2; Rishabdev Raman bt S Prithvi 6-3, 2-6, 6-1; Shaikh Abudllah bt Saurav Sukul 7-6 (7-3), 7-5; Suraj R Prabodh bt Kumara P Saradhi 6-1, 6-3; Rishab Agarwal bt CD Ajay 6-1, 6-1; V Veerabhadran bt Arpit Sharma 6-0, 6-4; Mohit Mayur bt L Balaji 6-1, 7-6 (7-1).<br /><br />Women’s singles (pre-quarterfinals): Pragati Nataraj bt Varunya Chandrashekar 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3; Adnya Naik bt Moulika Ram 6-1, 6-4; Nithyaraj Baburaj bt Arushi Bhasun 6-7 (9-11), 6-3, 6-4; Smriti Joon bt Likita Shetty 6-3, 6-4; Riya Bhatia bt Amala Amol Warrick 6-0, 6-3; Asha Nandakumar bt Damini Sharma 6-2, 6-3; Amrita Mukherji bt Preeti Ujjini 6-3, 6-0; Sai Samhita bt Arantxa Andrady 6-4, 6-2.</p>
