National Junior U-18 clay court championship: Daksh Prasad digs deep to reach second round

Second seed Daksh Prasad came back from the brink of elimination to defeat Tushar Mittal 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in his first round match.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: Fifth seed Skandha Prasanna Rao and 12th seed Deep Munim were knocked out, suffering straight-set losses. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Denim Yadav and Daksh Prasad, top seeds in boys’ singles, were made to work hard to progress to the second round of the 29th National Junior U-18 Clay Court Tennis Championship at the SDAT Stadium in Chennai on Monday.

While Denim was forced to save a few set points in his 6-1, 7-6 (3) win over lucky loser Pranav Gadgil, Daksh found himself on the brink of elimination, trailing 4-6, 2-5 against Tushar Mittal. The second seed from Madhya Pradesh, however, found his rhythm just in time to reel off five straight games in the second set before claiming the third 6-4.

Fifth seed Skandha Prasanna Rao and 12th seed Deep Munim were knocked out, suffering straight-set losses.

Highlights of National Junior U-18 Clay Court Tennis Championship

• Day 6: Kriish Tyagi, Vaishnavi Adkar defeat top seeds to win singles titles
• Day 5: Madhurima-Ruma pair wins girls doubles title; Denim-Vansh champion in boys doubles
• Day 5: Kriish Tyagi to face Denim Yadav in singles final
• Day 4: Sisters Asmi, Vaishnavi storm into doubles final
• Day 3: Packed schedule on day three tests youngsters
• Day 2: Exit scare for fifth seed Madhurima; top seeds Suhitha, Vaishnavi through to pre-quarters
• Day 1: Daksh Prasad digs deep to reach second round
• Underarm serve, upsets, bad light and the drama of qualifying

Shrijana M. Thapa and Kkaira S. Chetnani completed the main draw of 48 in girls’ singles after winning their respective final-round qualifying matches which were interrupted on Sunday due to bad light. Kkaira was back on court after a few hours to play her opening-round match in the main draw.

Highlight of the day

The highlight of the day was a gruelling three-set battle between Tanishq Jadhav and Arjun Premkumar that went on for almost three hours. Karnataka’s Arjun, unseeded, took the opening set 6-3. Tanishq, 15th seed from Maharashtra, ran through the second set, clinching it 6-1 to level things up. The deciding third set looked headed towards a 10-point tiebreak when Tanishq broke Arjun’s serve in the 11th game before successfully serving out the match.

Moment of concern

Gujarat’s Sakshi Thakkar was leading 6-3, 5-4 in her first-round fixture against Telangana’s Nirali Padaniya.

However, before she could even serve for the match, she was down on her knees near the baseline and threw up. The physio had to be called as she also suffered from a ligament stretch.

While Sakshi did not retire, she could barely serve or return. Nirali bagged the second set in the tiebreak before breezing through the decider.

Looking ahead

All 16 seeds in girls’ singles were awarded bye in the opening round and will directly feature in the second round on Tuesday. Doubles action for both categories will begin at the same time.

The results

Boys’ Singles (Round of 64): Denim Yadav (1), MP, def. Pranav Nikhil Gadgil, MH, 6-1, 7-6(3); Navya Verma, PB, def. Varun Singh, UP, 6-2, 6-3; Arjun Jitendra Abhyankar, MH, def. Bhavya Singhmar, HR, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; Tanishq Mukesh Jadhav, MH, def. Arjun Premkumar, KA, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5; Sagar Kumar, DL, def. Deep Munim (12), MP, 6-1, 6-2; Debasis Sahoo, OD, def. Mahalingam A Kandhavel, TN, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Adhirit Awal, TN, def. Skandha Prasanna Rao, KA, 6-0, 6-4; Aryan Arora (3), PB, def. Vatsal Manikantan, GJ, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3; Keshav Goel, WB, def. Mandeep Reddy Kudumala, KA, 6-4, 6-4; Rishi Vandhan Sadeeshkumar, KA, def. Jay Prakash Pawar, MH, 6-3, 6-1; Shyam Sundarr Shri Sailesh, TN, def. Adith Amarnath (10), KA, 6-1, 6-2; Vansh Bisht, DL, def. Nishant Kumar, HR, 6-0, 7-6(2); Vansh Nandal, HR, def. Pranav Dnyaneshwar Korade, MH, 6-4, 3-6 6-3; Kavin Karthik K S (7), TN, def. Pragathesh Shivashankar, TN, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1; Siddharth Gowthaman, TN, def. Ayush Sharma, DL, 6-0, 6-2; Pranav Karthik, TN, def. Ritvik Nadikude, TS, 6-1, 6-0; Rethin Pranav R S, TN, def. Manav Hariraj, KA, 6-0, 6-4; Nishit Nilesh Rahane, MH, def. Rakshak Tarun V (14), TN, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; Sahil S Tambat, MH, def. Harsh Fogaat, DL, 7-5, 6-2; Kriish Ajay Tyagi (6), KA, def. Mayank Sharma, DL, 6-4, 6-2; Aarjun Pandit, HR, def. Dhruv Kumar, DL, 6-2, 6-4; Viswasenan Navaneethan, TN, def. Siddarth Madhavan, TN, 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-4; Keerthivassan Suresh, TN, def. Rian Sharma, DL, 6-3, 6-3; Deepam Malik (13), DL, def. Pradyumna Singh Tomar, MH, 6-3, 6-3; Venkat Rishi Batlanki, TS, def. Omar Rehan Sumar, MH, 7-5, 7-5; Pushkal Srivastava, TN, def. Harmanjit Singh Kahlon, PB, 6-3, 7-5; Daksh Prasad, MP, def. Tushar Mittal, DL, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4

Girls’ Singles (Round of 64): Aarushi Mahenra Raval, GJ, def. Neha Reddy Dandu, AP, 6-3, 6-1; Laxmi Siri Dandu, TS, def. Harnoor Kaur Sidhu, PB, 6-4, 6-3; Asmi Nihar Adkar, MH, def. Sreenidhi Reddy Amireddy, TS, 6-1, 6-2; Nirali Bahadur Padaniya, TS, def. Sakshi Prashant Thakkar, GJ, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-1; Kkaira S Chetnani, MH, def. Gia Alana Pereira, MH, 6-1, 6-1; Isheeta Midha, CH, def. Durganshi Kumar, DL, 7-5, 6-4; Apurva Vemuri, TS, def. Charmi Gopinath, KA, 6-0, 6-2; Chahana Budhbhatti, GJ, def. Suhani Gaur, HR, 6-2, 6-1; Nainika Narender Reddy Bendram, MH, def. Anya Jacob, MH, 6-1, 6-2; Samaira Malik, DL, def. Aditi Rawat, HR, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4

Girls’ Singles (Final Qualifying Round): Shrijana M Thapa (5), KL, def. Anushka Pavani Garimella, KA, 6-2, 6-1; Kkaira S Chetnani (8), MH, def. Kaajal Ramisetty, KA, 6-1, 6-3 .