Date:29/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/29/stories/2008082957111800.htm

Sport - Tennis

Abhijit Tiwari makes the final four

Sports Reporter

— Photo: R. Ragu

FIRING AWAY: Tiwari served his way past Vinay Kameneni in the quarterfinals.

Chennai: Fourth seed Abhijit Tiwari of Chhattisgarh served his way past AP’s Vinay Kamenini, the fifth seed, 7-6(1), 6-2, in the boys’ under-18 quarterfinals of the adidas-MCC junior National tennis championships on Thursday.

The first-set tiebreak was lop-sided after both players fought hard to make it 6-6.

Abhijit’s serves had the pace and the precision, and were backed substantially by his shot selection. Vinay’s double fault gave Abhijit the mini-break in the first point of the tie-break, after which he raced to a 5-0 lead.

Vinay’s inside-out forehands defiantly strayed wide for the Andhra Pradesh lad to finish the tie-break with just the solitary point.

Abhijit’s retrieval skills and serves were on display in the second set. Engaging rallies between the two swung in the fourth seed’s favour, with his clean and powerful strokes forcing the fifth seed into errors.

Marques ousted

Earlier, sixth seed Kaza Vinayak Sarma of Andhra Pradesh took out the third seed Christopher Marques of Maharashtra 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. Kaza asserted himself at 4-4 in the first set, to manage the break.

Thereafter, he outplayed the third seed point after point, to break him in the first and the third game of the second set.

Top-seed Ronak Manuja of Maharashtra was stretched by Tamil Nadu’s Rishab Deb R. Raman, before he prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Rishab, who made an impressive comeback from a set and 1-3 down, ran out of steam in the decider. Fourteenth seed Srikar Alla defeated eighth seed Nihal Kapoor 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals.

In the girls’ under-14 quarterfinal, Tamil Nadu’s Sharon. S. Paul upset top-seed Prarthana Thombre of Maharashtra 6-3, 6-1.

The results: Quarterfinals:

Boys’ under-18: Ronak Manuja (Mah) bt Rishab Deb R Raman (TN) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2; Kaza Vinayak Sharma (AP) bt Christopher Marques (Mah) 6-1, 6-2; Abhijit Tiwari (Chg) bt Vinay Kamenini (AP) 7-6(1), 6-2; Srikar Alla (AP) bt Nihal Kapoor (TN) 6-2, 6-2.

Boys’ under-14: Ronit Bishit (Del) bt Haddin Baba (Mah) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Ajay Yadav (Har) bt S.M. Abdulla (AP) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Neeraj Elangovan (TN) Bt S-14 Vilasher Khate Har 6-4, 6-2; Ramkumar Ramanathan (TN) bt Vinod Gowda (Kar) 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(5).

Girls’ under-18: Rashmi Teltumbde (Mah) bt Ankita Raina (Guj) 6-2, 6-2; Aishwarya Srivatsava (Mah) bt Tanvi Shah (Mah) 6-1, 6-3; Kyra Shroff (Mah) bt Rishika Sankura (Del) 6-2, 7-5; Swetha Solanki (Del) bt Aishwarya Agarwal (MP) 6-2, 6-0.

Girls’ under-14: Sharan.S.Paul (TN) bt Prarthana Thombre (Mah) 6-3, 6-1; Eetee Mehta (Guj) bt Tarranum Honda (Del) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; Sansitha Nandakumar (TN) bt Anuksha Bhargava (AP) 6-4, 6-2; Amirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Vaidehi Bhagawat (Mah) 6-1, 6-1.