Amanjot, Megha to spearhead Indian challenge

CHENNAI, SEPT. 15. Amanjot Singh in boys section and Megha Vakharia in girls will lead the Indian challenge in the ITF world junior under-18 tennis championship which is to be held at the SDAT Nungambakkam Stadium from September 17 to 22. Spearheading the overseas challenge will be Dalodom Anuwat (boys) and Pachaya Laosirichon (girls) (both from Thailand). Sania Mirza's entry has been received for the doubles event.

Apart from India, players from Switzerland, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan are taking part in the tournament. In the boys section, Edvin Gerard of the United States has pulled out of the tournament.

In the boys and girls singles main draw, sixty four players will compete, which includes 48 direct entries, 8 wild cards and 8 qualifiers. Doubles will be held under a 32-main draw. There will be no qualifying matches on Sunday.

Some of the prominent players who will be seen in action: Boys: Dalodom Anuwat (197) (Thailand), Al Imron (284) (Indonesia), Dinuka Ranaveera (732) (Sri Lanka), Dominic Stoeckler (1047) (Switzerland), Amanjot Singh (98), Vinod Sewa (99), Rohan Gajjar (141), Karan Rastogi (208), Jaco Mathew, National under-18 champion, R. Arun Prakash, Somdev K. Dev Varman (all India).

Girls: Megha Vakharia (111) (India), Pichaya Laosirichon (120) (Thailand), Rebecca Dandeniya (170) (Great Britan), Diana Julianto (183) (Indonesia), Maya Rosa (233) (Indonesia), Jancy Paramanathan (Sri Lanka), Sasha Abraham (218), Lata Assudani (428), Nandita Chandrasekhar (428), Preethi Rao, Sharanya Pattabhi, Vandana Murali (all India).

Meanwhile, in the final qualifying round held today, Nischendran of Sri Lanka entered the main draw with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win over India's Inder Deep Mitra.

Other results: Final qualifying round: Aditya Mandekekar (Ind) bt Mayur S. Patil (Ind) 6-3, 6-3; Dhananjay Kawade (Ind) bt Kishore Srinivasan (Ind) 6-3, 6-3; Sendhur Gautham (Ind) bt Anirudh Thammane (Ind) 7-6 (5), 6-3; Manchit Madan (Ind) bt Rupul Muzumdar (Ind) 6-2, 6-1; Sanjay Salian (Ind) bt S.N. Amrit (Ind) 7-6 (1), 6-1; Kiran Kumar (Ind) bt Rewant Dutta (Ind) 6-3, 4-0 (conceded); Arka Mondal (Ind) bt Inder Kumar Mahajan 6-4, 2-6 (unfinished); First round: Mayur S. Patil (Ind) bt Ashwin Sivaramakrishnan (Ind) 6-4, 6-3; Inder Deep Mitra (Ind) bt L.S. Anant Basker (Ind) 7-6 (3), 7-5; Nischendran (Sri Lanka) bt Ankur Singla (Ind) 6-2, 6-2; Kishore Srinivasan (Ind) bt Naga Pratish (Ind) 6-3, 6-0; Dhananjay Kawade (Ind) bt Deny Eldo (Ind) 6-2, 6- 3; Sendhur Gautham (Ind) bt Vishnu Rajkumar (Ind) 6-3, 6- 2; Anirudh Thammanne (Ind) bt Imran Mohd. (Ind) 6-2, 6-4; Rupul Mazumdar (Ind) bt Sujay Reddy (Ind) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Manchit Madan (Ind) bt L. K. P. Pawan 6-4, 7-6 (3); Sanjay Salian (Ind) bt Anbarasu Uthaman (Ind) 6-1, 6-1; Kiran Kumar (Ind) bt Mohd. Riaz (Ind) 6-4, 6-2; Rawant Dutta (Ind) bt Namesh Bajpai (Ind) 3-6, 6- 3, 6-4; S.N. Amrit (Ind) bt M. Kripakar (Ind) 7-6 (9), 6-2; Arka Mondal (Ind) bt Ryan C. Mendonca (Ind) 6-0, 7-6 (1); Inder Kumar Mahajan (Ind) bt Adarsh Gundurao (Ind) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : ITF approves new tie-break system