Natasha palha beats Zeel desai to meet Mahak jain in final

Natasha Palha played increasingly better after an indifferent start to outplay top seed Zeel Desai 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the women’s semifinals of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex here on Friday.

It was an unbelievable climax for the Goan who trains in Pune, after she stumbled to a 0-5 start when Zeel did not put a foot wrong. But, as she the match wore on, Natasha got into her rhythm and the fragile temperament of Zeel saw her perform below par in the third set.

‘’I am very very happy. I have been looking for a good result for a long time’’, said Natasha whose previous best was playing Rishika Sunkara in the semifinals of the National championship.

It was a remarkable performance by the 24-year-old Natasha as she had twice lost to the 19-year-old Zeel in the professional circuit this season, winning 10 games in all in four sets.

In the final, Natasha will challenge defending champion and second seed Mahak Jain, who overcame a stiff resistance from four-time champion Prerna Bhambri in three tough sets. Mahak, who was competing in the School Games concurrently found the energy to fight it out against Prerna who was a bit tentative, much in contrast to the way Natasha handled the crunch against the top seed.

‘’I have never played her before. I will play my best’’, assured Natasha, about the final against Mahak.

Mahak won the women’s doubles title in partnership with Sathwika Sama, be;ating Humera Shaik and Sara Yadav.

Sidharth Rawat tried to grab some of the attention with a vibrant game against top seed Arjun Kadhe, as he served big and hit the ball on the rise with conviction. But he could not sustain his strong game after the good start.

After losing the first 2-6, Arjun regrouped his game nicely to outwit Sidharth Rawat, first by pushing the contest into the third set by winning the tie-break, after having missed two set points in the tenth game.

In the decider, Arjun was a class act and wound up the show with a simple drop.

In the final, Arjun, who was part of the Indian Davis Cup team recently in the World Group play-off tie against Serbia, will face the wiry Siddharth Vishwakarma.

The left-handed Siddharth who had played a final in the past against Vishnu Vardhan packed too much punch in his game for the Asian junior champion Nitin Kumar Sinha and cruised home for the loss of five games.

‘’I have hardly played tennis in the last eight months because of ill health. I am only playing to about 80 per cent of my game. I am looking to improve further’’, said Siddharth, who trains with coach Kamlesh Shukla.

In an entertaining men’s doubles final, Parikshit Somani and Suresh Dhakshineswar beat Kaza Vinayak Sharma and Mohit Mayur in straight sets.

The results:
Men (semifinals): Arjun Kadhe bt Sidharth Rawat 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2; Siddharth Vishwakarma bt Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles (final); Parikshit Somani & Suresh Dhakshineswar bt Kaza Vinayak Sharma & Mohit Mayur 6-4, 6-4.

Women (semifinals): Natasha Palha bt Zeel Desai 4-6, 6-4, 6-0; Mahak Jain bt Prerna Bhambri 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-3.

Doubles (final): Mahak Jain & Sathwika Sama bt Humera Shaik & Sara Yadav 6-3, 6-3.

Under-18 boys (semifinals): Siddhant Banthia bt Madhwin Kamath 6-3, 6-2; Calvin Golmei bt Drona Walia 6-3, 7-6(4).

Doubles (final): Siddhant Banthia & Megh Bhargav Patel bt Madhwin Kamath & Dev Javia 6-3, 6-2.

Under-18 girls (semifinals): Humera Shaik bt Sara Yadav 6-4, 6-3; Rashmikaa Shrivalli Bamidipaty bt Sharannya Gaware 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles (final): Salsa Aher & Kaavya Sawhney bt Bhakti Shah & Sunskrithi Damera 6-1, 2-6, [10-4].
2018-10-06
SIDDHARTH VISHWAKARMA SUBDUES MANISH SURESHKUMAR TO MAKE NATIONAL SEMIFINALS  
The wiry Siddharth Vishwakarma enjoyed the closed atmosphere of Court No.1 as he unleashed vicious serves and strokes to outwit second seed Manish Sureshkumar 6-4, 7-6(4) in the men’s quarterfinals of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Thursday.

Even though he had done well in the National championship in the past, it was a morale boosting win for the 1221st ranked Siddharth to beat the 565th ranked Manish who has been faring well in the international circuit.

In fact, the 19-year-old Manish had beaten Siddharth in the third set tie-break in their only meeting in the professional circuit earlier this year in the Futures in Chandigarh.

Manish started well and led 4-2, but was unable to sustain the tempo against the free-stroking left-hander. In the second set, Siddharth handled the tie-break well to pull through.

In the semifinals, Siddharth will challenge Asian junior champion Nitin Kumar Sinha who outplayed Siddhant Banthia for the loss of four games.

Top seed Arjun Kadhe set up a semifinal against Sidharth Rawat, by outwitting Ishaque Eqbal for the loss of three games. On his part, the third seeded Sidharth overcame national champion VM Ranjeet 7-5, 6-0, as he hastened to the finish by winning the last nine games.

In the women’s section, Natasha Palha pulled off another impressive victory as she battled past sixth seed Ramya Natarajan 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(2), after having put out third seed Sai Samhitha in the earlier round.

It was credit to Ramya that she recovered from being down 2-6, 2-5 and saved a match point in the tenth game of the second set to push the contest to the wire.

Natasha, with her swift feet and smart strokes, handled the climax with conviction to set up a semifinal against top seed Zeel Desai.

Sathwika Sama was expected to put up a better fight, but Zeel handled her challenge with composure to win 6-3, 6-3.

Four-time National champion at the same venue, Prerna Bhmabri set up a semifinal against defending champion and second seed Mahak Jain, by snuffing the challenge from Humera Shaik who failed to drive home the advantage when she had the chance in the first set.

Mahak had better challenge from Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi, after having won the first two rounds for the loss of a solitary game.

In the junior boys section, Drona Walia played very well to stop Ajay Malik in three sets. He will play Calvin Golmei in the semifinals. The other semifinal will feature Siddhant Banthia against Madhwin Kamath.

In the girls section, Humera Shaik, Sara Yadav, Rashmikaa Shrivalli Bamidipaty and Sharannay Gaware made the semifinals.

The results (quarterfinals):

Men: Arjun Kadhe bt Ishaque Eqbal 6-0, 6-3; Sidharth Rawat bt VM Ranjeet 7-5, 6-0; Niitn Kumar Sinha bt Siddhant Banthia 6-2, 6-2; Siddharth Vishwakarma bt Manish Sureshkumar 6-4, 7-6(4).

Women: Zeel Desai bt Sathwika Sama 6-3, 6-3; Natasha Palha bt Ramya Natarajan 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(2); Prerna Bhambri bt Humera Shaik 7-5, 6-1; Mahak Jain bt Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi 6-2, 6-4.

Under-18 boys: Siddhant Banthia bt Krish Patel 6-0, 6-3; Madhwin Kamath bt Dhruv Tangri 6-4, 6-3; Calvin Golmei bt Kabir Hans 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5; Drona Walia bt Ajay Malik 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-3.

Under-18 girls: Humera Shaik bt Farhat Aleen Qamar 6-0, 6-1; Sara Yadav bt Ishita Singh 6-2, 7-5; Rashmikaa Shrivalli Bamidipaty bt Sarah Dev 2-6, 6-3, 6-3; Sharannya Gaware bt Kashish Bhatia 6-1, 6-3.