Prakash shocks Gajjar, Isha advances to semis

Hyderabad, December 1: Fifth seed R Arun Prakash of Tamil Nadu rallied to shock second seed Rohan Gajjar 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the boys' under...

Hyderabad, December 1: Fifth seed R Arun Prakash of Tamil Nadu rallied to shock second seed Rohan Gajjar 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the boys8217; under-16 quarter-finals of the Sineet AITA Ranking mini and sub-junior tennis tournament at Gymkhana today.

Top seed Amanjyothi Singh Chandigarh, after blanking V Vignesh of Andhra Pradesh in the first game, had to wage a grim battle in the second before winning in the tie-breaker 7-4. Vikram Sane of Maharashtra had the measure of Karan Rastogi while AP8217;s Anand Kumar prevailed over Somdev K Dev Varman 7-6 7-4 6-4.

It was a fruitful day for young Prakash who also cruised into the semi-finals in the boys8217; under-14 section. In the quarter-finals, Prakash, who is top seed in this category, put out sixth seed Krishne Tanna 6-2, 6-0. Unseeded Sujay V Reddy shocked fifth seed Tushar Libharan 6-0, 7-6 7-4.

In the girls8217; section, seeded players had a smooth sailing into the last four stage. Second seed Isha Lakhani of Maharashtra breezed past Ankita Bhambri 6-1, 6-2 while third seed Sania Mirza of AP defeated Preeti Rao of Tamil Nadu 6-1, 7-5 in the under-16 category.

Mirza, top seed in the under-14 section, had an easy outing against N Askhata, winning 6-1, 6-0.

Results all quarter-finals:

Boys under-16: Amanjyoth Singh Chd bt V Vignesh AP 6-0, 7-6 7-4; Vikrant Sane Mah bt Karna Rastogi 6-4, 6-3; A R Anand Kumar AP bt Somdev K Dev Varman 706 7-4, 6-4; R Arun Prakash TN bt Rohan Gajjar 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Under-14: Arun Prakash bt Krishna Tanne 6-2, 6-0; Karan Rastogi bt P Vikas 6-2, 6-4; Vignesh bt Somdev K Dev Varman 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; Sujay V Reddy bt Tushar Libharan 6-0, 7-6 7-4.

Girl under-16: Lata Asudani Maha bt S L Manasa AP 6-1, 6-4; Samritha Sekhar TN bt Sanaa Bhambri 7-5, 6-4; Sania Mirza AP bt Preethi Rao Tn 6-1, 7-5; Isha Lakhani Mah bt Ankita Bhambal 6-1, 6-2. Under-14: Sania Mirza bt N Akshata 6-1, 6-0; Sana Bhambri Del bt Sandra Sashidharan Ker 6-1, 6-2; Anikta Bhambri bt Karthini Bhat 6-4, 6-1.