CHANDIGARH, JAN 5 ;Russian Alexander Igoshin and Belgium’s Laurent Daxhelet caused mild upsets in the boys singles first-round matches in the ITF Junior Tennis Tournament (Grade 3) for Under-18 being organised by the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association at the Sector 10 Tennis Stadium here today. Unseeded Laurent Daxhelet, with ITF ranking of 239th upset third seed and 137th ranked Christopher Marquis in a match which was extended to three sets. After losing the first set, Laurent Daxhelet staged a grand rally and clinched the first-round win by 2-6 6-1, 6-4.
Alexaander Igoshin, who has a ranking of 306 in ITF, shocked fifth seed and 175th ranked Roman Piftor of Uzbekistan in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(4).
Local lad Mandeep Singh Gill justified his wild card as he defeated lucky loser Nischay Rawal in straight sets 6-2, 6-0. Another local wild card entrant Digvijay Singh also moved into second round at the expense o Srikar Alla in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
Uzbekistan’s Aziz Yuldashev was given a tough time by wild card Rohit Bisht who extended his rival to three sets before winning by 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Top seed Rashmi Teltumbde and second seed Kyra Shroff scored facile victories in their opening round matches. Rashmi, ranked 82nd in ITF proved too strong for local wild card Ikttesh Chahal who she defeated without dropping evening a single game at 6-0, 6-0.
Hitting with power Kyra Shroff defeated Natasha Palha in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.
Morning rain delayed the start of today’s schedule.
Belarus’ Alena Geramisov stunned fifth seed Melis Sezer of Turkey in a marathon girls singles first-round match. Playing a defensive game from the baseline, Alena, ranked 258th in ITF, lost the first set at 1-6. Thereafter she blunted the attacking game of Melis (161st ranked) and won the next two sets at 6-4, 6-4 to recorded a hard-fought victory. Alena had taken two medical breaks as she had developed cramps but sheer determination paved the way for her victory in two hours and 30 minutes.
Boys singles (1st round): Kaza Vinayak Sharma bt Shogafur Shofayziev 6-3, 6-0, Mandeep Singh Gill bt Nischay Rawal 6-2, 6-0, Laurent Olibel Daxhelet(Bel) bt Christopher Marquis 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, Sai Karkit Nakireddi bt Maninder Singh 6-4, 6-1, Saurabh Singh bt Tushal Thawani 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, Vaidik Munshaw bt Artem Tarasov (Uzb) 7-6 (1), 6-2, Alexander Igoshin(Rus) bt Roman Piftor 6-4, 7-6(4), Chandril Sood bt Lakshit Sood 6-0, 7-5, Digvijay Singh bt Jeroen Bernard 6-4, 6-1, Aziz Yuldashiev (Uzb) bt Rohit BIsht (Ind) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, Sumeet Shinde bt Titov Mikhail (Rus) 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-3, Yoannis Hilelis (Fra) bt Mansingh Athare 6-0, 6-1..
Girls singles (Ist round): Rashmi Teltumbde bt Ikttesh Chahal 6-0, 6-0, Kyra Shroff bt Natasha Palha 6-3, 6-1, Alena Geramisov (Blr) bt Melis Sezer (Tur) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, Valentina Starkova (Kaz) bt Mohan Nimisha 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, Tanvi Shah bt Shweta Solanki 6-2, 6-0, Rishika Sunkara bt Noor Paul 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, Sachie Ishizyu (Jap) bt Sowjanya Bavisetti 6-1, 6-1.