In the quarterfinals played here on Friday, top seed Nick Chappell of the USA dropped a set before registering a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory over fifth seed Sidharth Rawat to set up a last-four clash with eighth seed Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha. Niki was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Manish Sureshkumar.
Second-seed Bogdan Bobrov faced stiff resistance in the first set from Karan Singh while blanking his opponent in the second for a 7-5, 6-0 victory. The visitor will play the in-form Ramkumar Ramanathan in the other semifinal. The Davis Cupper brushed aside the challenge of Madhwin Kamath in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.
Meanwhile, the doubles semifinal matches went against the form as the fourth-seeded pair of Siddhant Banthia and Vishnu Vardhan rallied from a set down to upset the fancied pair of second-seeded Bogdan Bobrov and Nick Chappell 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 to make it to the title round.
In the final, the Indian duo will meet the third-seeded countrymates Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta and Manish Sureshkumar, who stunned the favourites and top seeds Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(3), 6-4. Incidentally, Karteek and Manish were the doubles finalists in the last leg in Dharwad.
Results:
(Seeds in parenthesis, Indians expect when mentioned)
Singles quarterfinals:
1-Nick Chappell (USA) bt 5-Sidharth Rawat 6-1, 3-6, 6-2; 2-Bogdan Bobrov bt Karan Singh 7-5, 6-0; 8-Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha bt Manish Sureshkumar 6-4, 6-3; Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Q-Madhwin Kamath 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles (semis):
3-Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta/Manish Sureshkumar bt 1-Purav Raja/Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6 (3), 6-4; 4-Siddhant Banthia/Vishnu Vardhan bt 2-Bogdan Bobrov/Nick Chappell (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
–Ajit Weekly News
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News Credits – I A N S
