Unseeded Suresh Dakshineshwar of Tamil Nadu toppled top-seeded Suraj Prabodh of Karnataka in two straight sets to enter the men's singles semi-finals of the Dhoot Transmission Poona Club Trophy AITA men's and women's open tennis championships here on Thursday.
Dakshineshwar won 6-4, 7-5 and will meet lucky loser Anvit Bendre, a local player, in the semis following the latter's come-from-behind victory over state rival Shahbaaz Khan at the Poona Club's courts.
Bendre continued his splendid run in the tournament to oust Khan 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to set up a meeting with Dakshineshwar.
In the lower half of the draw, another local boy - third seed Dhruv Sunish - quelled the challenge of fifth- seeded Delhi player Anurag Nenwani, winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to enter the last four.
Sunish will now take on another Delhi player, the second-seeded Kunal Anand, who out-rallied local boy Sahil Gaware 6-4, 6-3 in another quarter-final match.
In the women's section, top-seeded Vaidehi Chaudari of Gujarat made short work of sixth-seeded Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi of Telangana, clinching a 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final win.
Vaidehi will now take on seventh-seeded 7 Nidhi Chilumula, also of Telangana, who scored an easy 6-0, 6-2 win over Maharashtra's Akanksha Nitture in another quarter-final, for a place in the final.
In the lower half, fourth-seeded Soha Sadiq of Andhra Pradesh staved off the challenge from local girl Tejasvi Kate with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Soha earned a shot at second-seeded Nithyaraj Baburaj of Tamil Nadu, who ended the challenge of Uttar Pradesh's no. 8 seed, Vanshika Choudhary, 6-3, 6-4 in the semis.
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