Vignesh Subramanyam of Karnataka, seeded 12th, scripted an authoritative 6-3, 6-4 win over unseeded Dhruv Sunish of Maharashtra and booked his slot in the boys singles semi-finals of the RT Narayan Memorial AITA Under-16 National Series tennis tournament here Friday.
Vignesh will clash the top seed and his Karnataka team-mate BR Nikshep in the semi-finals on Saturday while the ninth seed Rian D Pandole of Maharashtra, who beat Rishi Reddy of Karnataka, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 in the other quarter-finals, will play the second seed Sanil Jagitiani of West Bengal. The two quarter-final matches were held over from Thursday.
Despite a shaky start when he dropped serve to trail 0-2, Vignesh soon found his rhythm and played a consistent game with solid groundstrokes to prevail over his mercurial Dhruv Sunish.
Meanwhile, Pandole stopped free run of qualifier Reddy in a match which saw a controversial finish to the second set.
Reddy was blown away in the first set by Pandole who recently finished runner-up in Pune National Series. But the second set was a well contested affair which saw both players messing up their chances.
Reddy squandered three break points in the fifth game as Pandole held serve for a 3-2 lead after being forced to two deuces.
Reddy too came under pressure in the eighth game, but he saved two break points and was stretched to four deuces before holding serve to level the set score at 4-all.
The ninth game was mired in controversy as the chair umpire awarded the break point and game to Reddy following Pandole's mishit. The Mumbai player hotly questioned the verdict, claiming the score should have been 30-40 and game was not over. But the umpire stuck to his guns and awarded the game to Reddy.
After conceding that break and down 4-5, an upset Pandoe simply went through the motions in the 10th to lose the set 4-6.
Pandole came back with a renewed determination in the decider and attacked with zest while Reddy repeatedly faltered with his forehand. Pandole broke Reddy in the fourth and sixth games for a 5-1 lead.
However, Reddy broke Pandole in the seventh game, but could not stop the Mumbai lad who sealed the set and match at 6-2 with yet another break.
In the girls singles, top seed Snehal Mane beat the lone Karnataka challenger in the fray, S Soha at 6-3, 7-5 in the quarter-finals while 13th seed Vaidehi Chaudhary of Gujarat overcame unseeded Prinkel Singh of Jammu and Kashmir 6-3, 6-3.
In Saturday's semi-finals, Vaidehi will meet top seed Snehal Mane and second seed R Abhiinikka of Tamil Nadu will take on the sixth seed Shivani Swarup Ingle of Maharashtra.
In the boys doubles, Niksehp and Yash Yadav emerged champions beating Parikshit Somani and Sanil Jagitiani 6-1, 6-7 (3 ), 10-6 in the final.
The Tamil Nadu duo of Abhinikka and R Sai Avanthika bagged girls doubles title beating Harsha Sai Challa and C.S.Praneetha in the final at 6-3, 6-1.
The results:
Boys singles (quarter-finals) Vignsh Subramanyam (Kar) bt Dhrv Sunish (Mah) 6-3, 6-4; Rian D Pandole (Mah) bt Rishi Reddy (Kar) 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.
Girls singles (quarter-finals): Snehal Mane (Mah) bt S Soha (Kar ) 6-3, 7-5; Vaidehi Chaudhary (Guj) bt Prinkel Singh (J-K ) 6-3, 6-3.
Boys doubles (final): BR Nikshep (Kar) / Yash Yadav (MP ) bt Parikshit Somani (Asm) / Sanil Jagitian (WB) 6-1, 6-7 (3) , 10-6.
Girls doubles (final): R Abhinikka / R.Sai Avanthika ( TN) bt Harsha Sai Challa (AP) / CS Praneetha (TN) 6-3, 6-1.
