Arjun Sharma pulls off upset win

After losing the first set 5-7, Ashutosh hung on tenaciously to win the next two 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5). Another DHAITA trainee who struggled to make the second round was Nipun Gupta. He got past Aditya Shriram 7-6 (7), 6-4.

Sixth seeded Shivang Mishra too took the three set route into the next round against Anuj Gupta. Top seeded Parantap Chaturvedi and eighth seeded C.S Mohanty were impressive winners on a day of surprises.

In sharp contrast, the matches in the boys under-14 went on quite sedately with the exception of seventh seeded Chandigarh boy Saurabh Singh conceding to Delhi’s Varun Giri after a 4-6 first set loss.

The talented thrid seed Abhinav Subramaniam kept up the good work in his straight set win against Gaurang Mehta. Parantap, top seeded in both the events, had an easy time against Tushar Garg.

Uttar Pradesh’s Krishna Karsolia spent close to three hours to get past Anish Narang in a match that went into the tie break in the decider.

In girls’ action, top seeded Ankita Bhambri, a trainee of Suresh Menon, sent back Chandigarh’s Mallika Malhotra 6-0, 6-1.

Aanchal Sharma, who came through the qualifying rounds, had it easy, getting a walkover from Jyotsna Mirchandani.

Yuvika Sharma and Sonali Kapoor provided the two three setters in the category. While Yuvika improved after a tight first set to beat Gayatri Iyer 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, Sonali Kapoor was patchy in her 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 win.

Ankita’s sister Sanaa, the second seed, gave Tanya Liberhan’s the Monday blues with a convincing 6-1, 6-1 verdict in the under-14 and came back to beat Monika Goel in three sets in the under-16.

For top seeded Shruti Dhawan, it was just another day in office as she cruised into the quarters.

Results
Boys (Under 16 — First Round):
Parantap Chaturvedi (1) (Delhi) bt Vivek Bhakuni (Delhi) 6-2, 6-1; Sukhamrit Lakhat (Chandigarh) bt Anoop Anand (Chandigarh) 6-3, 6-4; Nipun Gupta (Delhi) bt Adiya Shriram (Delhi) 7-6 (9-7), 6-2; Shivang Mishra (6) (Delhi) bt Anuj Gupta (Delhi) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Ashutosh Singh (4) (Delhi) bt Riaz Ahmed (Rajasthan) 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5); Amit Singh (Delhi) bt Tushar Garg (Delhi) 7-6 (10-8), 6-2; Nishank Mishra (Delhi) bt Abhishek Gautam (U.P.) 6-0, 6-1; Sarbrinder Singh (Chandigarh) bt Harneesh Randhawa (7) (Punjab) 6-3, 6-3; Ritesh Chitlangia (Rajasthan) bt Sikander Jaitley (Chdngiarh) 6-3, 6-4; Aditya Pal Bajaj (Delhi) bt Varun Giri (Delhi) 6-4, 6-3; Anil Goswamy (3) (Delhi) bt Vipin Sirpaul (Delhi) 6-1, 6-3; Arjun Sharma (Delhi) bt P. S. Battacharya (5) (Delhi) 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1; C. S. Mohanty (8) (Delhi) bt Divij Sharan (Delhi) 6-2, 6-2; Amanjot Singh (Chandigarh) bt Sandeep K. Sharma (U.P.) 6-1, 6-2; Nikhil V. Murli (Delhi) bt Vivian Chhetri (Delhi) 6-2, 6-3.

Boys (Under 14 — First Round):
Parantap Chaturvedi (1) (Delhi) bt Tushar Garh (Delhi) 6-3, 6-2; Rahul Verma (Delhi) bt Mayank Jain (Delhi) 6-4, 7-5; D. Rohit K. Raju (Delhi) bt Gaurav Verma (Delhi) 6-0, 6-0; Devanand Jha (8) (Chandigarh) bt Ritesh Sabharwal (Delhi) 6-3, 6-2; Abhinav Subramaniam (3) (Delhi) bt Gaurang Mehta (Delhi) 6-2, 6-0; Aditya Talwar (Delhi) bt Tushal Liberhan (Chandigarh) 6-0, 6-2; Wrik Ganguly (Delhi) bt Lavpreet Singh (Chandigarh) 6-0, 6-0; Nishank Mishra (5) (Delhi) bt Divij Sharan (Delhi) 6-1, 6-1; Nipun Gupta (6) bt Vuvraj (Chandigarh) 6-1, 6-1; Varun Walia (U.P.) bt Ardaman Sidhu (Chandigarh) 6-1, 6-3; Nikhil V. Murli (4) (Delhi) bt Chatwinder Singh (Chandigarh) 6-1, 6-3; Mayank Tyagi (Delhi) bt Arjun Uppal (Delhi) 6-0, 6-1; Anoop Anand (Chandigarh) bt Yannick Nelord (Delhi) 6-0, 6-2; Amanjot Singh (2) (Chandigarh) bt Vivek Shokeen (Delhi) 6-1, 6-2; Krishna Karsolia (U.P.) bt Anish Narang (Delhi) 3-6, 6-4, 7-7 (7-3); Varun giri (Delhi) bt Saurabh Singh (7) (Chandigarh) 6-4, conceded.

Girls (Under 16 — Pre-Quarter Finals):
Shruti Dhawan (1) (Delhi) bt Malika Malhotra (Chandigarh) 6-1, 6-0; Sangeeta Rajagopalan (Delhi) bt Neha Phalpher (Delhi) 6-4, 6-4; Isha Chopra (4) (Haryana) bt Vishika Chhetri (Delhi) 7-5, 7-5; Ankita Bhambri (Delhi) bt Sonali Kapoor (Delhi) 6-2, 6-1; Sanaa Bhambri (Delhi) bt Monika Goel (Delhi 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; Rani Smita Jain (3) bt Shilpi Chauhan (Delhi) 6-0, 6-2; Itishree Badu (Delhi) bt Poornima Narayan (Delhi) 6-3, 6-2; Harsimran Kaur (2) (Chandigarh) bt Naina Karsolia (U.P.) 6-0, 6-3.

Girls (Under 14 –Pre-Quarter Finals):
Ankita Bhambri (1) (Delhi) bt Mallika Malhotra (Chandigarh) 6-0, 6-1; Aanchal Sharma (Delhi) w/o Jyotsna Michandani (Delhi) Naina Karsolia (3) (UP) bt Parul Goswami (Delhi) 6-2, 6-0; Yunika Sharma (Delhi) bt Gayatri Lyer (Delhi) 5-7, 6-2, 6-1; Monika Goel (Delhi) bt A. Ramamurti (Delhi) 6-0, 6-0; Neha Singh (Chandigarh) bt Satvika Saboo (4) (Chandigarh) 7-5, 6-1; Sonali Kapoor (Delhi) bt Neha Phalpher (Delhi) 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1; Sanaa Bhambri (2) (Delhi) bt Tanya Liberhan (Chandigarh) 6-1, 6-1.