On a lazy Sunday morning,Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association Stadium was the centre of activity. With places at stake for their qualification in the main round of the AITA Men's & Women's Rs. 50,000 Tennis Tournament,the players were more than eager to sacrifice their leisure time and give a shot at glory. With slight chill in the air,the players huffed and puffed their way to outdo their rivals and win the final qualifying matches. While most the players had to sweat it out,Dheeranush Bhatti and Garry Tokas won their matches easily and qualified for the main draw. Leading the way was Garry who thrashed Navpuneet,6-0,6-1,in a one-sided contest. On the other hand,Dheeranush made short work of Gagandeep Singh as he lost just two games in his facile 6-1,6-1 win over the latter. Watching their peers come up with impressive performances,Rajesh Bhardwaj also lifted his game and recorded an easy 6-2,6-2 win over Dhruv Puniani. However,contrary to the expectations,Pranav Suri was tested over and again by Taranbir Oberoi as the first set called for an exciting battle between the two. Pranav held on to his nerves and snubbed Oberoi's challenge to win 6-4. Bolstered by the win,Pranav went for glory in the second set but Oberoi looked determined to stay in the hunt and played some good shots to give a tough time to Pranav. In the end,it was Pranav who managed to come up with some winners and claimed the set 6-3 to qualify for the main draw. In other matches,Inderjot Singh prevailed over Prateek Bhaksi 6-4,6-3,Sunil Sharma got the better of Uttam Phogat 7-5,6-4 and Arpit Sharma defeated Gaurav 6-2,7-5. However,the best match of the day was saved for the last as Manpreet Singh Chawla displayed a cool head to register a tough-fought 6-3,4-6,6-3 win over Harry Singh Amor. After winning the first set 6-3,Manpreet was taken aback when he was beaten 4-6 in the second set by Harry. Taking lessons from his errors,Manpreet played some powerful shots and volleys to score some good points against his rival who was slowly growing in confidence. However,he could not stop Manpreet from winning the final set 6-3,and also the match. Results: Men: Final qualifying round: Garry Tokas bt Navpuneet 6-0,6-1; Dheeranush Bhatti bt Gagandeep Singh 6-1,6-1; Rajesh Bhardwaj bt Dhruv Puniani 6-2,6-2; Pranav Suri bt Taranbir Oberoi 6-4,6-3; Inderjot Singh bt Prateek Bhaksi 6-4,6-3; Sunil Kaushik bt Uttam Phogat 7-5,6-4; Arpit Sharma bt Gaurav 6-2,7-5; Manpreet Singh Chawla bt Harry Singh Amor 6-3,4-6,6-3.
