Lucknow: The Dr. K.L. Garg Memorial AITA CS-7 Under-18 Tennis Tournament got off to an exciting start at the Vijayanta Khand Tennis Stadium in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow. The tournament is being organized under the aegis of the Uttar Pradesh Tennis Association with support from the Dr. K.L. Garg Charitable Trust.
Top-seeded Rohin Raj, third seed Anuj Kumar, and fourth seed Agrim Sahu made confident starts to their campaigns, clinching straight-set victories to secure spots in the pre-quarterfinals of the boys’ singles event.
However, the opening day also witnessed major upsets. Fifth seed Pragosmapama Gayen from West Bengal and seventh seed Yash Patel from Uttar Pradesh bowed out in the very first round.
In a thrilling encounter, Uttar Pradesh’s Kinjalk Srivastava stunned West Bengal’s fifth seed Pragosmapama Gayen with a 7-6(6), 6-1 win. Kinjalk showcased brilliant court coverage and a powerful serve to edge out the first set in a tiebreak and then cruised through the second set.
In another surprise result, Deepak from West Bengal defeated seventh seed Yash Patel of Uttar Pradesh 7-6(8-6), 6-1. Deepak held his nerve in the tiebreak and then dominated the second set.
Among the seeded players, top seed Rohin Raj defeated fellow UP player Devansh Vij 7-5, 6-3. Third seed Anuj Kumar delivered a commanding performance, blanking Tejas 6-0, 6-0, while fourth seed Agrim Sahu overcame Harsh Kumar 7-5, 6-1.
Other notable results included:
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Ayaan Yadav (UP) defeated Aarav Bhaskar 7-6(9-7), 6-4
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Anarv Chauhan (UP) beat Manan Kapoor 6-3, 6-0
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Abhyuday (UP) beat Ashutosh (WB) 6-2, 6-1
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Rohan (UP) beat Kanav (UP) 6-0, 6-3
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Aniruddh (UP) beat Kabir (UP) 6-2, 6-2
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Eighth seed Lavam Makharia (WB) defeated Anay (UP) 6-2, 6-0
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Arjun Sharma (UP) overcame Hasan Anees (UP) 6-3, 6-2
West Bengal’s Nishant advanced via walkover after sixth seed Ansh Saxena (UP) withdrew.
In the girls’ singles first round, Siddhi Singh of Uttar Pradesh advanced to the quarterfinals with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win over Raminder D. Kaur. Adya (UP) also moved ahead after her opponent Riddhima retired midway through the match with the score at 6-3, 2-1 in Adya’s favour.
The tournament was inaugurated by chief guest Atul Kumar Gupta (Retd. IAS, former Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh). Distinguished guests included Javeed Ahmad (Retd. IPS, former DGP, Uttar Pradesh), Puneet Agarwal (Secretary, UPTA), along with Deepak Pathak, Pawan Sagar, and S.K. Garg.
