Qualifier Haadin Bava registered the biggest win of his career when he beat seasoned Nitten Kirrtane to make it to the semi-finals of the All-India Ranking Men's Tennis Tournament at the Solaris Club here Wednesday.
Bava, who made it to the main draw from qualifiers, has been playing impressive tennis throughout the week and Wednesday was no different as he stuck to ground strokes and wore of Kirrtane.
One break in the first set saw Bava taking the advantage to seal it 6-3 before Kirrtane showed resistance in the second. But it was Bava, who held on to beat the No.3 seed 6-3, 7-5.
Maharashtra player Bava now meets top seed Abdullah Shaikh of Andhra Pradesh. Shaikh overcame first set blooper to subdue No.5 seed Tejas Chaukulkar of Maharashtra 3-6, 6-4, 1-0. Tejas conceded the match when he was down 0-1 in the third and deciding set.
In the bottom half of the draw, Shahbaaz Khan defeated qualifier Digvijay Singh Mehta of Himachal Pradeh 6-0, 7-5 and now meets No.2 seed Vijay Kannan of Tamil Nadu in the second semi-final. Kannan overcame No.7 seed Bhavesh Gaur of Madhya Pradesh 7-5, 6-4.
In the doubles event, Kirrtane, in company of Anvit Bendre, made it to the final beating Sahil Gaware and Kunal Vazirani 6-3, 6-1. They will meet Shahbaaz Khan and Abdullah Shaikh in the summit clash. Khan-Shaikh defeated Rohit Sarwate and Digvijay Singh Mehta 6-2, 6-1.
Quarterfinals results:
Men: 1-Abdullah Shaikh (AP) bt 5-Tejas Chaukulkar (Mah) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 conceded; Q-Haadin Bava (Mah) bt 3-Nitten Kirrtane (Mah) 6-3, 7-5; Shahbaaz Khan (Mah) bt Q-Digvijay Singh Mehta (HP) 6-0, 7-5; 2-Vijay Kannan (TN) bt 7-Bhavesh Gaur (MP) 7-5, 6-4.
Doubles semi-finals: Anvit Bendre and Nitten Kirrtane bt Sahil Gaware and Kunal Vazirani 6-3, 6-1; Shahbaaz Khan and Abdullah Shaikh bt Rohit Sarwate and Digvijay Singh Mehta 6-2, 6-1.
