Pro Tennis League: Ramkumar delivers for Supersmashers
Sriram Balaji scripts Aviators’ turnaround; Radiant, Challengers also qualify.
Published : Dec 23, 2021 21:59 IST
Ramkumar Ramanathan won his singles and doubles matches to put Pro Veri Supersmashers into the semifinals of the Centena Pro Tennis League at the RK Khanna Stadium here on Thursday.
He was well supported by Nitin Kumar Sinha, who won his singles contest after partnering Ramkumar in doubles.
Supersmashers finished second in the group and qualified despite a negative game difference of 1. Indian Aviators topped the group, enhancing its game difference from eight overnight to 11 on Thursday, thanks to a strong performance against Sankara.
For Aviators, Sriram Balaji turned the contest on its head, after it was 1-4 down, as he survived a match point to beat Arjun Kadhe. He then partnered Siddhant Banthia to beat Arjun and Parikshit Somani in the tie-break. Earlier, Ajay Malik and Diva Bhatia had won their match.
Saketh Myneni, Suraj Prabodh, Parv Nage, Prerna Bhambri and Arjun Uppal were unbeaten as Team Radiant turned its fortunes around and qualified for the semifinals from the other group. Bangalore Challengers made the grade with an overwhelming game difference of 24.
Radiant, which had a negative game difference of eight overnight made it a positive difference of 2, thanks to a resounding 30-20 triumph over Stag Babolat Yoddhas.
In the semifinals, Radiant meets Aviators and Challengers takes on Supersmashers.
The results (league)
Team Radiant bt Stag Babolat Yoddhas 30-20 (Parv Nage bt Nishant Dabas 5-3; Parv & Prerna Bhambri bt Nishant & Vanshika Chaudhary 5-3; Saketh Myneni bt Vijay Sundar Prashanth 5-4(5); Saketh & Suraj Prabodh bt Vijay Sundar & Ishaque Eqbal 5-4 (6); Suraj bt Ishaque 5-3; Arjun Uppal & Prerna bt Nishant Goel & Vanshika 5-3).
Bangalore Challengers bt DMG Crusaders 26-16 (Aman Dahiya lost to Bushan Haobam 1-5; Aman & Sai Samhitha bt Bushan & Kashish Bhatia 5-2; Niki Poonacha bt Vishnu Vardhan 5-3; Niki & Paras Dahiya bt Vishnu & Karan Singh 5-3; Paras bt Karan Singh 5-1; Dilip Mohanty & Sai bt Rishi Kapur & Kashish 5-2).
Indian Aviators bt Sankara 27-24 (Ajay Malik bt Shivank Bhatnagar 5-3; Ajay & Diva Bhatia bt Shivank & Niyati Kukreti 5-4(3); Sriram Balaji bt Arjun Kadhe 5-4(4); Balaji & Siddhant Banthia bt Arjun & Parikshit Somani 5-4(4); Banthia bt Parikshit 5-4(3); Swarandeep Singh & Diva lost to Ashish Khanna & Niyati 2-5).
Pro Veri Supersmashers bt Sapphire Superstars 27-21 (Aditya Nandal lost to Chirag Duhan 4-5(7); Aditya & Mahika Khanna lost to Chirag & Riya Sachdeva 4-5(4); Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 5-3; Ramkumar & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Jeevan & Prithvi Sekhar 5-2; Nitin Kumar bt Prithvi 5-1; Mohit Phogat & Mahika lost to Aditya Khanna & Riya 4-5 (5).