Ajay and Himanshu toil to win in Talent Series

Chandigarh, Jul 16 (UNI) Himanshu Mali of Delhi justified his second seeding as he overcame a stiff resistance from unseeded Gurinder Singh (Punjab) in the boys under-18 singles quarter-final outing in the All India Tennis Association Talent Series Tennis Tournament here today.

Himanshu and Gurinder Singh waged a do-or-die battle for every points which kept the interest in the match alive till the end. In an energy-consuming match lasting more than three hours, Himanshu recorded a well-deserved verdict at 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4.

CLTA trainee Ajay Yadav also struggled to win his quarter-final match against Tushal Thawani of Maharashtra.

In a marathon quarter-final encounter lasting more than three hours Ajay Yadav, after losing the first set in tie-breaker 6-7 (6) and down 3-4 in the second, staged a remarkable rally to prevail over plucky Tushal. Ajay won the second set via tie-breaker at 7-6 (4). With one set all, Ajay raised his game and returning with accuracy clinched the third set at 6-3.

The third quarter-final match between lucky loser Bhamjot Singh of Delhi and qualifier Rushi Amin (Guj) was also extended to three sets. Bharmjot went dowin figthing in the first set in tie-breaker by 6-7 (4). However, with determination, he bounced back into the game by winning the next two sets which he won by 6-2, 6-3.

Local lad Akshat Joshi (CLTA) caused a mild upset as he defeated fourth seed Yash Deshmukh (Maharashtra) 6-4, 7-6 (8).

Ajay Yadav is now pitted against Bramjot Singh and Himanshu Mali will fight with Akshat Joshi of Delhi in the sem-final tomorrow.

The semi-finalists have also been spotted in the boys under-14, girls under-18 and girls under-14 singles.

Wild card local lad Prabhamrit Kaur Sandhu, second seed Nihal Singh (Delhi) , fifth seed Monica Sant (Guj) and Mehak of Chandigarh advanced to the girls under-18 semi-finals. Prabhamrit, who had stunned top seed Bhoomi Parmar in the first round, today upset sixth seed Gundeep Kaur of Punjab in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. Monica beat Subh Gulati 6-2, 6-2 and second seed Nihal Singh prevailed over seventh seed Bhavika Wadhawan of Chandigarh in a hotly contested quarter-final match.

Prabhamrit will now challenge Monica Sant and Nehal Sahni's opponent will be Mehak in the semi-finals.

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