CHANDIGARH, SEPT 25 : Qualifier Jajbir Singh upset 6th seed Brahmjot Singh in a three-hours marathon pre-quarter-final match in the men’s singles of the Rs 1 lakh CLTA-AITA Open Tennis Tournament at the Sector 10 Tennis Stadium here today. Brahmjot took the 1st set 6-3. Jajbir won the 2nd set in a tie breaker and then Jajbir had an easy 6-1 final set victory because Brahmjot was getting cramps.
In another little longer than three hours match Gurvinder Mann upset 5th seed Rubal Shandaliya. Gurvinder won the 1st set 6-2. Rubal rallied to level set by wining 6-4. But in the third set Gurvinder played some consistent games to finish out the match at 6-3.
Second seed Chandril Sood of Delhi survived against CHART trainee Ranjeet Singh. Ranjeet had a solid start by taking the first set at 6-0 and he was 1-0 in the second set with a few points to make it to 2-0 but Chandril used his experience and played some good returns of serve and passing shots to win the second set 6-2.
Chandril took a 4-0 lead in the final set when Ranjeet raised his game to make it 3-4. After this Chandril held his serve to lead 5-3. In the ninth game Ranjeet saved four match points but then he netted a backhand shot in the fifth match point. The match lasted 2 hours 45 minutes.
There was another upset made by Hardeep Sandhu of Punjab. Hardeep defeated seventh seed Suraj Beniwal with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory.
In the women’s Singles Shruti Dhawan faced resistance from Riya Bhatia. Shruti lost the first set 5-7 but came back strongly to take next set 6-0. In the final set both the players played consistent game. In the end Shruti managed to win the final set 7-5.
Fourth seed Damini Sharma faced resistance from local girl Nandini Sharma. Damini won 7-5, 7-5. Second seed Manya Nagpal dominated and had an easy 6-2, 6-1 victory. Third seed Victoria Chahal had an easy victory over Soumya Vij 6-1, 6-1.
Quarter-finals and semi-finals of singles will be played from 8.30 a.m. onwards.
Results: Men’s singles (Pre-quarter-finals): Lakshit Sood bt. Manav K. Chakma 6-1, 6-3, Chandril Sood bt. Ranjeet Singh 0-6, 6-2, 6-3, Gurinder Mann bt. Rubal Shandilya 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, Harshdeep Sandhu bt. Suraj Beniwal 6-2, 6-3, Vijay Kannan bt. Allen Gomes 6-3, 6-0, Mohit Mayur bt. Shashank N. 6-3, 6-4, Jajbir Singh bt. Brahmjot Kamboj 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1.
Women singles (pre-quarter-finals): Manya Nagpal bt. Aarushi Kakkar 6-2, 6-1, Victoria Chahal bt. Soumya Vij 6-1, 6-1, Harsimran bt. Gayatri Kumaraiah 6-4, 6-3, Smriti Joon bt. Abhilasha Ahuja 6-1, 7-6 (3), Renu Sharma bt. Nikita Bishnio 7-5, 6-1, Shruti Dhawan bt. Riya Bhatia 5-7, 6-0, 7-5, Damini Sharma bt. Nanini Sharma 7-5, 7-5, Vineeta Singh bt. Aaryalee C 6-2, 6-1.