Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s Siddhi and Abhyuday pulled off major upsets at the Dr. K.L. Garg Memorial AITA CS-7 (Under-18) Tennis Tournament, advancing to the semifinals and quarterfinals of the girls’ and boys’ singles categories respectively.
Siddhi stunned top seed Ikshita in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, showcasing aggressive serves and swift court coverage to dominate the match. Her win marks one of the biggest surprises in the girls’ draw so far.
In other girls’ quarterfinal matches, second seed Aashi Shamseri of Uttar Pradesh cruised past Kashvi with a commanding 6-0, 6-0 win. Third seed Vanisha edged past Adya 7-6(7-1), 6-2 after a tightly contested first set tie-breaker and a stronger showing in the second. Fourth seed Geetika also made it to the final four, defeating Tashi 6-4, 7-5.
On the boys’ side, Abhyuday made headlines by ousting third seed Anuj Kumar 6-2, 7-5 in the pre-quarterfinals. He clinched the first set after a gritty battle and sealed the second with powerful net play and serves in the final stages.
Top seed Rohin Raj from Uttar Pradesh displayed solid court control to beat Ayan Yadav 6-2, 6-4. Second seed Mehr S. Khosla won a thrilling three-setter against Arjun 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. After dropping the second set, Mehr bounced back in the decider with a mix of clever angles and deep returns.
Fourth seed Agrim Sahu had to dig deep to overcome Virat in a tense 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) battle. After easily taking the first set and losing the second, Agrim’s powerful forehands and composure in the tiebreak helped him advance.
From West Bengal, eighth seed Lavm Makharia defeated UP’s Faiz Ali Kidwai 6-2, 6-2. In other matches, Uttar Pradesh’s Kinjalk Srivastava blanked Rohan 6-0, 6-0; Aniruddh defeated West Bengal’s Deepak 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; and West Bengal’s Nishant Bajaj overcame Uttar Pradesh’s Anarv Chauhan 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 to enter the quarterfinals.
The tournament is being held under the aegis of the Uttar Pradesh Tennis Association at the Vijayanta Khand Tennis Stadium, Gomtinagar, with support from the Dr. K.L. Garg Charitable Trust.
