ISHAQUE EQBAL AND NITHYA RAJ TOP SEEDS IN AITA RANKING TENNIS

Eklavya Singh bounced back from a slow start to beat Yash Yadav 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the final qualifying round of the Rs.100,000 AITA ranking tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex, Chandigarh, on Sunday.

Interestingly, Yash Yadav not only made the main draw as a lucky loser but also drew another lucky loser Rishabhdev Raman in the first round.

Gautam Anand blanked Ishaque Eqbal, who made the main draw as a lucky loser and was seeded No.1. In fact, there were seven lucky losers in all.

In the women’s section, Kaavya Sawhney, Sarah Dev and Sharannya Gaware were some of the prominent players to qualify for the main draw. There were four lucky loser spots in the women’s draw as well.

Nithya Raj was seeded No.1 ahead of Shweta Rana and the two drew qualifiers Simran Pritam and Sharannya Gaware respectively in the first round.

The results (final qualifying round):

Men: Gautam Anand bt Ishaque Eqbal 6-0, 6-0; Ajay Malik bt Rahul Shankar 6-2, 6-0; Aakash Nandwal bt Anuj Malik 6-1, 7-6(1); Ranjeet Singh bt Gaurav Gulia 6-3, 6-0; Bharat Nishok Kumaran bt Rishabh Dev Raman 7-5, 6-0; Eklavya Singh bt Yash Yadav 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; Lakshay Gupta bt Vipul Mehta 6-2, 6-2; Yugank Bhardwaj bt Chinmay Bakshi 6-2, 6-2.

Women: Kaavya Sawhney bt Prabhleen Sekhon 6-2, 6-2; Muskan Gupta bt Priyanka Jakhar 6-1, 6-0; Shamita Yadav bt Gaayathri Shankar 6-2, 6-4; Vanshika Choudhary bt Manali Srivastav 6-0, 6-0; Sonakshi Bhatnagar bt Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa 6-1, 3-6, 6-2; Sarah Dev bt Pooja Ingale 6-2, 6-1; Shrannya Gaware bt Ananya Bhargava 6-0, 6-1; Simran Pritam bt Alisha Menon 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.