Fenesta National Tennis C’ship 2024: Maaya upsets fourth seed Lakshmi to enter pre-quarters

Maaya Rajeshwaran knocked out fourth seed Lakshmi Prabha 6-1, 6-1 in the women’s first round of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Tuesday.

Maaya Rajeshwaran in the Fenesta National tennis championship in Delhi on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

Maaya Rajeshwaran played a robust game as she gave further proof of her potential by knocking out fourth seed Lakshmi Prabha 6-1, 6-1 in the women’s first round of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Tuesday.

Having negotiated three rounds of the qualifying event, the 15-year-old girl from Coimbatore, coached by Manoj Kumar, Maaya served and stroked with authority, in setting up a pre-quarterfinal against another qualifier Saumya Ronde.

Another young qualifier in the women’s event, Laxmi Siri Dandu had to spend a lot of time on court to beat Chevika Reddy 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5).

Sejal Bhutada was equally impressive as she survived a tricky opponent, Vidhi Jani in three sets, to set up a second round clash against Humera Baharmus.

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In the men’s event, lucky loser Rethin Pranav, another fine talent from Tamil Nadu, also demonstrated his high quality game as he raced past Neeraj Yashpaul for the loss of three games. Rethin will next challenge Ajay Malik who had ousted fifth seed Parth Aggarwal.

Bhicky Sagolshem who had beaten Rethin in the third and final qualifying round, demonstrated his athleticism and crafty game in subduing the experienced Suraj Prabodh for the loss of five games.

Bhicky will challenge top seed and former champion Vishnu Vardhan.

Another bright talent from Manipur, qualifier Bushan Haobam set up a second round against another former champion V. M. Ranjeet.

Four more qualifiers Shashank Theertha, Keerthivassan Suresh, Dheeraj Srinivasan and Yash Chaurasia also progressed to the second round.

The results (first round):

Men: Bhicky Sagolshem bt Suraj Prabodh 6-1, 6-4; Bushan Haobam bt Amrutjay Mohanty 6-1,7-5; Shashank Theertha bt Shivank Bhatnagar 6-4, 6-2; Keerthivassan Suresh bt Maan Kesharwani 1-6, 7-6(7), 2-0 (retired); Dheeraj Srinivasan bt Manish Ganesh 6-3, 6-4; Rethin Pranav bt Neeraj Yashpaul 6-2, 6-1; Yash Chaurasia bt Faisal Qamar 6-3, 6-4; Manish Sureshkumar bt Jagmeet Singh 7-6(4), 6-0.

Women: Medhavi Singh bt Shatakshi Chaudhary 6-2, 7-5; Pooja Ingale bt Nirali Padaniya 6-3, 6-1; Sejal Bhutada bt Vidhi Jani 6-0, 3-6, 7-5; Humera Baharmus bt Divya Bhardwaj 6-4,2 -6, 7-5; Saumya Ronde bt Apurva Vemuri 6-4, 7-6(4); Maaya Rajeshwaran bt Lakshmi Prabha 6-1, 6-1; Laxmi Siri Dandu bt Chevika Reddy 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5).