ITF World Juniors Tour: Dhiraj shocks third seed Gourav to enter quarters

Dhiraj rallied from a set down to beat Gourav 3-6,6-3,6-3 in the pre-quarterfinal tie. In the other ties, top seed Debasis Sahoo downed Vatsal Manikantan 3-6,6-3,6-3 to record comeback victory

Hyderabad: Vennapusa Dhiraj Reddy, seeded 13th, stunned third seed Gandharv Gourav Kothapalli to enter quarterfinals of the Raja Narasimha Rao Memorial ITF World Juniors Tour (J60) Under-18 age group tennis tournament at the Lake View Tennis Academy, Aziz Nagar, Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Dhiraj rallied from a set down to beat Gourav 3-6,6-3,6-3 in the pre-quarterfinal tie. In the other ties, top seed Debasis Sahoo downed Vatsal Manikantan 3-6,6-3,6-3 to record comeback victory.

Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi cruised past Mehak Kapoor 6-2,6-2 in the girls’ pre-quarters match. Meanwhi’e, USA’s Ananya Choubey, who stunned top-seed Rishitha in the second round, lost to Aakruti Sonkusare Narayan 4-6, 2-6.

Results: U-18 Singles: Pre-Quarters: Boys: Vraj Gohil (5) bt Rian Sharma(10) 7-6(5),3-6,7-6; Venkat Rishi Batlanki (USA)(7) bt Ashwajit Senjam 6-3,4-6,6-1; Vennapusa Dhiraj Reddy (13) bt Gandharv Gourav Kothapalli (3) 3-6,6-3,6-3; Debasis Sahoo (1) bt Vatsal Manikantan (16) 3-6,6-4,6-1; Chandan Shivaraj bt Samarth Sahita (6) 6-4,6-3; Skandha Prasanna Rao (15) bt Shanker Heisnam 6-4,6-3; Arnav Paparkar bt Aradhya Kshitij 6-0,2-6,7-6(5); Sehaj Singh Pawar (12) bt Victor Mohanram (ESP)(14) b 6-4,7-5;

Girls: Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi (9) bt Mehak Kapoor 6-2,6-2; Aarushi Mahendra Raval bt Ishi Maheshwari (13) 6-2,6-3; Sreenidhi Balaji (10) bt Amodini Naik (6) 6-3,6-1; Aakruti Sonkusare Narayan bt Ananya Choubey (USA) 6-4,6-2; Saumya Ronde bt Snigdha Kanta 6-0,6-3; Sai Janvi (3) bt Anushka Bhola 6-3,3-0 (con); Prisha Nikhil Shinde (5) bt Harshini N Nagaraj (12) 6-2,7-5; Laxmisri Dandu (15) bt Asmi Adkar (2) 6-7(7),5-2 (con).