Former national champion Mohit Mayur passed a test of fire as he wriggled his way past third seed Kunal Anand 7-6(7), 7-6(4) in the men’s pre-quarterfinals of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex here on Wednesday.
On another warm day, when Asian junior champion Nitin Kumar Sinha and one of the bright young girls Humera Sheikh, apart from Tanisha Kashyap, made it to the quarterfinals in two events each, it was the 24-year-old Mohit, a Junior Commissioned Officer of the Army, who
stood out with his explosive game.
Kunal Anand, more regular on the professional circuit than Mohit these days, had the game but could not build on the advantage when he led 5-2 in the second set. A big serve and a strong forehand, apart from a crafty change of pace, saw Mohit handle the tie-breaks with authority.
In the quarterfinals, Mohit, who often hides his intensity of purpose behind a pair of spectacles, will play Manish Sureshkumar who sailed past Paramveer Singh Bajwa with surprising ease for the loss of one game.
Another former national champion Nitten Kirrtane gave a crisp lesson to the best ranked junior in the country, Siddhant Banthia and marched ahead for the loss of three games. He will face the top seed Suraj Prabodh in the quarterfinals.
Nitin Kumar Sinha played his intense all-round game with considerable fluency to tame eighth seed Faisal Qamar for the loss of five games, and will face a player with a big game, fourth seed Dalwinder Singh.
Two-time finalist Arjun Kadhe, who has matured into a better player after graduating from the Oklahoma State University, and tipped as the favourite by almost everyone here, will have the unenviable task of matching wits against the second seed, the counter-punching fighter from Kerala, Haadin Bava. The latter beat Jayesh Pungliya in a battle of wits, albeit in straight sets, as he had done in the quarterfinals last year.
Nitin Kumar Sinha will face the talented Sacchitt Sharma, who had first given a hint of his prowess by winning the UK Under-14 championship in Wimbledon, in the boys quarterfinals. Abhimanyu
Vannem Reddy, Fardeen Khan, Dev Javia, Dhruv Sunish, Amit Beniwal and Siddhant Banthia were the others to make the boys quarterfinals.
It was all about Humera Sheikh in the women’s and girls section. Humera outplayed the heroine of the previous day, Prinkle Singh in the girls event, for the loss of three games. She will face Vaidehi
Chaudhari in the girls quarterfinals.
In the women’s event, the tall, fearless and free-stroking Humera, will challenge the top seed Zeel Desai. Bhuvana Kalva, who has won an ITF women’s title and had done well in the recent World University Games, played sharp to beat third seed Shweta Rana. She will face four-time champion Prerna Bhambri, who has lost one game in two rounds so far.
Prinkle Singh got a walkover from the injured Yubrani Banerjee to make the women’s quarterfinals, and will face another fast-improving junior, Tanisha Kashyap.
The 15-year-old Mahak Jain was the other junior to tame the former Asian junior champion Snehadevi Reddy, and will face the second seed Sai Samhitha.
Akanksha Bhan, Shivani Manjanna, Sathwika Sama, Prerna Vichare and Sravya Shivani were the others to make the girls quarterfinals.
Results (pre-quarterfinals):
Men: Suraj Prabodh bt Arman Bhatia 6-3, 6-1; Nitten Kirrtane bt Siddhant Banthia 6-2, 6-1; Mohit Mayur bt Kunal Anand 7-6(7), 7-6(4); Manish Sureshkumar bt Paramveer Singh Bajwa 6-1, 6-0; Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Faisal Qamar 6-3, 6-2; Dalwinder Singh bt Calvin Golmei 6-1, 6-1; Arjun Kadhe bt Hardeep Singh Sandhu 7-5, 6-1; Haadin Bava bt Jayesh Pungliya 7-5, 6-4.
Women: Zeel Desai bt Shreya Gulia 6-2, 6-0; Humera Shaikh bt Sara Yadav 6-3, 6-4; Bhuvana Kalva bt Shweta Rana 6-2, 6-4; Prerna Bhambri bt Moulika Ram 6-0, 6-0; Prinkle Singh w.o. Yubrani Banerjee (medical); Tanisha Kashyap bt NIthya Raj 6-4, 6-1; Mahak Jain bt Snehadevi Reddy 6-2, 6-2; Sai Samhitha bt Soha Sadiq 6-3, 6-1.
Boys: Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Nikit Reddy 6-4, 6-1; Sacchitt Sharma bt Krishan Hooda 6-2, 6-3; Abhimanyu Vannem Reddy bt Shubham Malhotra 6-0, 6-4; Fardeen Qamar bt Sanket Tomar 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(1); Dev Javia bt Mritunjay Badola 6-3, 6-0; Dhruv Sunish bt Madhwin Kamath 6-3, 6-1;
Amit Beniwal bt Rhythm Malhotra 6-4, 7-5; Siddhant Banthia bt Calvin Golmei 6-4, 6-4.
Girls: Akanksha Bhan bt Kritika Chhabra 6-2, 6-2; Shivani Manjanna bt Chandrika Joshi 6-4, 6-2; Sathwika Sama bt Salsa Aher 6-2, 6-3; Prerna Vichare bt Sai Dedeepya 6-2, 6-2; Humera Sahikh bt Prinkle Singh 6-1, 6-2; Vaidehi Chaudhari bt HImaanshika 6-1, 6-1; Sravya Shivani bt Bhakti Parwani 6-0, 6-1; Tanisha Kashyap bt Muskan Gupta 6-0, 6-4.
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