Indian girls fared much better than the boys, as four of them entered the second round of the BVG India-MSLTA B1 ITF Asian Junior Tennis Championships here today.
India's top junior player Pranjala, Zeel Desai, Mahak Jain and Nidhi Surapaneni won their respective first round matches at the MSLTA School of Tennis at Mhalunge Balewadi.
Fifth seeded Pranjala took an hour and 10 minutes to oust Japanese rival Satoko Sueno 6-2 6-2 in a one-sided first round encounter.
Mahak recorded an upset win as she toppled seventh seed Rifanty Kahfiani of Indonesia 1-6 7-5 6-4 in a battle that lasted 10 minutes less than two hours.
Third seed Zeel lost her momentum in the second set but recovered well to get past Himari Sato of Japan 6-0 3-6 6-1 in a 72-minute match, while in an all-India clash Nidhi Surapaneni defeated Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi 6-4 6-1.
Among the other Indian girls, only Shivani Amineni challenged top-seeded Yuki Naito of Japan, taking her to three sets before the latter prevailed 7-6(5) 2-6 6-3.
Mahak, who is recovering from a strained shoulder, said after her upset win, "I got strain in my arm in the first set, so it was tough. After getting treatment from the physio at the end of the first set I started playing freely, my opponent played a few loose shots in the second set that allowed me to comeback into the game."
The results:
Girls (1st round): Yuki Naito [1] (Jpn) bt Shivani Amineni 7-6(5) 2-6 6-3; Joleta Budiman (Ina) bt Jitasha Shastri M 6-3 6-0; Yang Lee [6](Chn) bt Humera Begum Shaik 6-0 6-1; Pranjala Yadlapalli [5] bt Satoko Sueno (Jpn) 6-2 6-2; Zhima Du [4](Chn) bt Sathwika Sama 6-2 6-1; Khim Iglupas (Phi) bt Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty 6-0 6-0; Nidhi Surapaneni bt Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi 6-4 6-1; Naho Sato [8] bt Mihika Yadav 6-3 6-3; Mahak Jain bt Rifanty Kahfiani [7] (Ina) 1-6 7-5 6-4; Anri Nagata(Jpn) bt Shivani Swarup Ingle 6-2 7-5; Xiyu Wang (Chn) bt Snehal Mane 6-0 6-2; Zeel Desai [3] bt Himari Sato (Jpn) 6-0 3-6 6-1; Mi Zhuoma You bt Priyana Kalita 6-0 6-1; Yanni Liu (Chn) bt Harsha Sai Challa 6-0 6-1; Mayuka Aikawa [2] (Jpn) bt Akanksha A Bhan 6-3 6-2.
