Rutuja in line for a double, Boys' U-12 top seed Mukund shocked

Mumbai, Apr 24 (UNI) Rutuja Bhosale of Maharashtra set herself up for a double crown, when she stormed into the girls' under-14 and under-12 finals in the Vazirani All India Championship Series Ranking tennis tournament, at the Vazirani Sports Academy, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, near here today.

While Rutuja was the toast of the day, boys' under-12 third seed Shashank Nautiyal of Delhi shocked top seed Sashi Kumar Mukund of Andhra Pradesh 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the final.

The under-12 third seed Rutuja Bhosale kicked off a rewarding day, with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 win over second seed Ambreen Sheikh of Andhra Pradesh.

Later, Bhosale, seeded No 7 in the under-14 category, endured a strong challenge in the opening set before easing to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 win over unseeded state mate Sanskruti Jangle.

Bhosale, who shocked second seed Bhavika Wadhawan of Chandigarh in the quarter-finals, earned an early break in the first set to lead 5-3, but Jangle broke back in the ninth game before holding serve in the next to force the set into extra points. Bhosale raced to a significant lead in the tie-breaker and relied on the cushion to snatch the set.

Boys under-14 seventh seed Manish Kumar of Tamilnadu caused yet another upset in the tournament that has been a disaster for the top ranked players as he scalped No 2 Nischay Rawal of Chandigarh 6-4, 6-3 for a berth in the final.

Results: Boys U-14 (SF): Parth P Shah (Mah) bt Karan Salwan (Del) 6-3, 6-2; Manish Kumar (TN) bt Nischay Rawal (Chd) 6-4, 6-2.

Boys U-12 (SF): Shashank Nautiyal (Del) bt S. Mukund (AP) 6-3, 6-2; Khuma Basil (Miz) bt Sahil Deshmukh (Mah) 6-3, 6-2.

Girls U-14 (SF): Lavina Chawla (Del) bt Shagufta Shaikh (Mah) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; Rutuja Bhosale (Mah) bt Sanskruti Jangle (Mah) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.

Girls U-12 (SF): Ashna Sharma (Mah) bt Moulika B. Ram (TN) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; Rutuja Bhosale (Mah) bt Ambreen Sheikh (AP) 6-2, 6-1.

UNI GS SR AB GC2040