Suresh Krishna survives a scare

HINDHU

February 9, 2012


THE  SCHOOL OF POWER TENNIS

 TENNIS / Former champs Ankita Raina and Rushmi Chakravarthi advance

BOUNCING BACK:Defending champion and second seed Suresh Krishna found himself a set down against qualifier Tejas Chaukalkar, but rallied to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.— PHOTO: PTI

Defending champion A.S. Suresh Krishna of Andhra Pradesh won a battle of attrition against qualifier Tejas Chaukalkar of Maharashtra to continue his march in the Indian Jute National grass-court tennis championship here at the South Club on Wednesday.

The second-seeded Suresh Krishna's survival meant that all the seeded players, except for sixth seeded Ajai Selvaraj who lost in the first round, sailed into the quarterfinals.

Krishna, who struggled for consistency, erased a set's deficit before turning the tables on his opponent in a battle that went on for two and a half hours.

Top seeded Saketh Myneni and third seeded P.C. Vigenesh of Andhra Pradesh moved up winning their respective matches comfortably.

The women's pre-quarterfinals turned into a virtual minefield for the seeds, with three out of the seven seeds playing on Wednesday losing to unseeded opponents.

After top seeded Shivika Burman retired after aggravating a shoulder injury in the first round, sixth seeded Garima Vatwani of Delhi conceded her match following a wrist injury to qualifier Vaniya Dangwal of Delhi. Vatwani was leading 6-5 when she was force d to retire.

Qualifier Nupur Kaul beat fifth seeded Shweta C. Rana of Delhi in straight sets.

Unseeded Sansitha Nandkumar of Tamil Nadu also produced a confident performance to outclass eighth seeded Nehel Sahni of Delhi.

Former champions — second seeded Ankita Raina of Gujarat and third seeded Rushmi Chakravarthi of Tamil Nadu — stormed into the quarters with easy wins.

The results: Pre-quarterfinals Men: Saketh Myneni (AP) bt Ronak Manuja (Mah) 6-3, 6-2; Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (TN) Abhijeet Tiwari (Chg) 6-1, 6-4, Nitin Kirrtane (Mah) bt Arpit Sharma (Raj) 6-2, 7-6(2); Vijay Kannan (TN) bt Vinod Gowda (Kar) 6-3, 7-6(5); Saurav Sukul (Ben) bt Adit Jain (Del) 6-3, 6-2; P.C. Vignesh (AP) bt Siddharth Rawat (UP) 6-3, 6-4; Shahbaaz Khan (Mah) bt Yogesh Phoghat (Del) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(2); A.S. Suresh Krishna (AP) bt Tejas Chaukalkar (Mah) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Women: Amrita Mukherjee (Ben) bt Smriti Joon (Kar) 6-0, 6-1; Vaniya Dangwal (Del) bt Garima Vatwani (Del) 5-6(retd); Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN) bt Rani Smita Jain (IAF) 6-0, 6-2; Treta Bhattacharya (Ben) bt Manya Nagpal (Del) 6-2, 6-1; Nupur Kaul (Del) bt Shweta C. Rana (Del) 6-4, 6-3; S. Vaishnavi Pedi Reddy (AP) bt Arantxa Andrady (Del) 6-1(retd); Sansitha Nandkumar (TN) bt Nehel Sahni (Del) 6-2, 6-4; Ankita Raina (Guj) bt Sahan Shetty (Kar) 6-2 ,6-2.

Doubles: Quarterfinals: Men: Christopher Marquis (Mah) & Rupesh Roy (Ben) bt Saurabh Singh (Del) & Rakshay Thakkar (Mah) 6-2, 3-6, 10-8; Saketh Myneni (AP) & Vijay Kannan (TN) bt Kamal Suresh (Kar) & Krishna Karsolia (UP) 6-0, 6-2; Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash & Fariz Mohamed (TN) bt Tejas Chaukalkar & Ronak Manuja (Mah) 6-3, 7-5; Arjun Khade & Nitin Kirrtane (Mah) bt Siddharth Rawat (UP) & Yogesh Phoghat (Del) 6-4, 7-5. Women: Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN) & Ankita Raina (Guj) bt Arantxa Andrady (Dli) & Namita Bal (Mah) 6-1, 6-2; Smriti Joon (Har) & Vanya Dangwal (Del) bt Sayali Bhilare & Sagarika Phadke (Mah) 7-6(7-5), 6-0; Saadgi Rajni & Eetee Mehta (Guj) bt Abhilasha Ahuja (Har) & Riya Bhatia (Del) 6-2, 4-6; 10-4; Amrita Mukherjee (Ben) & Sansitha Nandkumar (TN) bt Shweta Rana & Garima Vatwani (Del) 6-3, 3-2(retd).