Chandigarh, Thursday, February 23 : Stage is set for tomorrow’s two Semi-finals wherein local lad Sanam K. Singh will take on 4th seed Kento Takeuchi of Japan at 10.00 A. M. while N. Sriram Balaji will take on 5th seed Indian Murugeshan R. Virali.
The doubles final will be an all India affair with the Indian pair of Rohan Gajjar and Saketh Myneni taking on Vijay Kannan and Arun Prakash Rajagopalan after completion of the singles Semi-finals matches.
Today’s proceedings started with giant killer Sanam K. Singh disposing-off Japan’s Shuichi Sekiguhi in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 without any great resistance from the Japanese. In the 2nd quarterfinal the 4th seed Kento Takeuchi of Japan got the better off 8th seed Indian Saketh Myneni. After winning the 1st set at 7-5. Saketh Myneni was trailing 2-5 to the Japanese opponent before pulling off from the contest. Leaving Kento Takeuchi winner.
The 3rd quarter final between N. Sriram Balaji and 7th seed Sarvar Ikramov of Uzbekistan was won by Balaji in 2 straights sets 6-2, 7-5. After having conceded the 1st set tamely Sarvar Ikramov fought hard in the 2nd set but Balaji held his nerve to prevail upon the fighting Sarvar Ikramov 7-5.
In the last quarterfinal of the day India’s Virali Munugeshan had little difficulty in disposing off the Japanese challenge of 2nd seed Arata Onozava of Japan in straight set 6-3, 6-2
The 1st Doubles Semi-final between the Indian pair of Rohan Gajjar and Saketh Myneni and 1st seed pair of Hsin-Han Lee and Hsien-Yin Peng of Taiwan was a fiercely fought contest. The Indian pair romped home with great ease in the 1st set which they won 6-1 but the Taiwan pair came back strongly in the 2nd set to clinch it in a tie breaker 7-6(5). It was a titanic struggle for supremacy as both opponents held their serve and were involved in long rallies before the Indian pair went down in the tie breaker. The 3rd set contest was a repeat of the 2nd set with service changing hands and both pairs coming up with winners. Rohan Gajjar and Saketh Myneni held their nerve to clinch the final set in a super tie breaker (10-4) to book a place in the finals.
The 2nd Doubles Semi-finals between the wild card pair of Vijay Kannan and Arun Prakash Rajagopalan piped the 2nd seed pair of Miles Bugby of Britain and Sam Barry of Ireland in two straight sets 7-6(1), 6-3. There was a ding dong battle for supremacy in the 1st set as both opponents were involved in long rallies and service changed hands on many occasions before the Indian pair came out victorious in a tie breaker 7-6(1). The Indian pair broke the resistance of their opponents in the 2nd set to win it with ease at 6-3.
Tomorrow’s Singles Semi-finals and Double Final will be covered live by Doordarshan on their national network with the singles match starting at 10.00 A.M. on court no.1.