Kirrtane handed a straight sets defeat to Sandhu at the AITA Ranking Rs 22 lakh prize-money tournament which commenced at the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana.
The Pune-based 43-year-old Kirrtane, showed that age has no bearing and hardly counts as he put to good advantage his vast experience to outshine the 23-year-old Sandhu without much of an effort.
The left-handed Kirrtane pounced on every single opportunity to punish his young opponent as he waltzed to a fluent 6-3, 7-6(3) win to serve a warning to the rest of the field.
In women's competition, top seed Mahak Jain of Madhya Pradesh brooked no opposition from Neru Rapria and conceded a solitary point as she cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win in a first round match.
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Meanwhile, sixth seed Humera Shaikh from Telangana was taken the distance before prevailing over Iska Teertha of Hyderabad 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.
Results - Men's singles 1st round: Nitten Kirrtane (Mah) beat Hardeep Singh Sandhu (Pjb) 6-3, 7-6(3); Jayesh Pungliya (Pun) bt Yugal Bansal (Del) 6-4, 6-4; 6-Prajwal Dev (Ktk) bt Niki K.Poonacha (Ktk) 6-3, 6-1.
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