Tembe tames Rao

CHANDIGARH, February 11: The gameplan was missing in second seed Vishal Rao's game today. He paid penalty for this lapse as his rival in boy...

CHANDIGARH, February 11: The gameplan was missing in second seed Vishal Rao8217;s game today. He paid penalty for this lapse as his rival in boys singles quarter-final eighth seeded left-handed Kedar Tembe scored a well-earned 2-6, 7-6 7-5, 6-2 win in the ITF Junior Tennis Circuit at the Chandigarh Club grass courts here.

Tembe used his forehand to the telling effect while Rao8217;s strong points were his serve and backhand slices going across the court kissing the net. Had Rao exploited Tembe8217;s weak backhand, the story would have been different. Tembe converted most of the backhands into forehands to the advantage. Rao got some good points on Tembe8217;s double-handed backhand returns. Whenever Vishal occasionally rushed to the net, he got points.

Fifth seed Vijay Kannan had the easiest win as his rival Rohan Bopna conceded the quarter-final tie after trailing 0-4 in the first set.

Top seed Sanzaruz Zaman and third seed Ravi Kiran Bhat registered straight set wins over their rivals. Zaman ousted Koifman Eduardof Kriziksthan 6-2, 6-1 to end the foreign challenge in the singles. Bhat stopped the winning streak of Parantap Chaturvedi 6-2, 6-1.

Eighth seed Meus Burger Yvonne of Austria proved the seeding committee wrong as she ousted defensive player fourth seed Sheetal Gautam of India in the girls singles quarter-final match. In the 110-minute duel the Austrian had the last laugh winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Top seed Uzma Khan, Shruti Dhawan and Velts Alisa joined Meus Burger Vyonne in the semi-final with easy victories. Uzma outplayed Radhika Tulpule 6-3, 6-0 while Shruti Dhawan, a student student of Modern School, Delhi, beat Simma Maria Aut 6-4, 6-2 and Velts Alisa Kazakasthan 6-4, 6-1.

Semi-final lineups:

Men8217;s singles: Sanzaruz Zaman vs Ravi Kiran Bhat; Vijay Kannan vs Kedar Tembe;

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Women8217;s singles: Uzma Khan vs Meus Burger Yvonne; Velts Alisa vs Shruti Dhawan

Results all quarter-finals:

Boys singles: Sanzaruz Zaman Ind bt Koifman Eduard Kyr 6-1 6-4; Ravi KiranBhat Ind bt Parantap Chaturvedi Ind 6-2 6-1; Vijay Kannan Ind bt Rohan Bopna Ind 4-0 conceded; Kedar Tembe Ind bt Akshay Vishal Rao Ind 2-6 7-6 7-5 6-2.

Girls singles: Uzma Khan Ind bt Radhika Tulpule Ind 6-3 6-0; Meus Burger Yvonne Aut bt Sheetal Gautam Ind 3-6 6-4 6-3; Shruti Dhawan Ind bt Simma Maria Aut 6-4 6-2; Velts Alisa Kazbt Radhika Mandke Ind 6-4 6-1