Nehal Gaokar advances in all-India ranking junior tennis tourney

Mumbai, Apr 29 (UNI) Formidable Nehal Gaokar of Maharashtra enjoyed a rewarding opening day when he advanced to the third and final qualifying round, in the All India National Ranking Championship Series Junior Tennis Tournament at the Bombay Gymkhana here today.

Former state under-12 No. 1 Gaokar, got off to a dream start when he cruised past state mate Siddhant Jain 4-0, 4-0 in the first round and later in the day crushed Farhan Syed 6-0, 6-0 in the second round.

Playing in the under-16 for the second year, Gaokar, who just completed his board exams, warmed up for sterner tests ahead as he sounded an early warning to the rest of the field with an impressive display.

In a marathon second round encounter, Varad Deshpande took two hours to overcome Saiyam Thakker 6-4, 6-3 in another all-Maharashtra tie.

Players from Gujarat also impressed as Ansh Patel, Purav Soni and Sahil Arora made it to the final qualifying round with convincing wins.

The main draw will commence from May 1.

Results (Qualifying): 2nd round: Pradeep Deswal bt Siddesh Khade 6-0, 6-0; Jigar Valera bt Nazeeb Shaikh 6-2, 6-2; Purav Soni (Guj) bt Chail Shah 6-2, 6-1; Om Dalvi bt Jeet Chheda 6-0, 6-0; Sahil Arora (Guj) bt Yash Deshpande 6-0, 6-3; Ansh Patel (Guj) bt Nihar Yeravdekar 6-1, 7-5; Pranik Iyengar bt Bijon Keshvani 6-0, 6-0; Nehal Gaokar bt Farhan Syed 6-0, 6-0; Varad Deshpande bt Saiyam Thakker 6-4, 6-3.

1st round: Nehal Gaokar bt Siddhant Jain 4-0, 4-0; Rushil Thakkar (Guj) bt Kishan Kushagra 2-4, 4-1, 4-1; Sahil Arora (Guj) bt Nikunj Mehta 4-1, 4-0; Purav Soni (Guj) bt Adhiraj Deshmukh 4-0, 4-1; Ansh Patel bt Dhrubjyoti Das 4-0, 4-0; Nazeeb Shaikh bt Sankalp Srivastav 5-3, 4-0; Bijon Keshwani bt Raj Mandelia (Guj) 2-4, 4-2, 4-0; Pratap Kaushal bt Saiyam Waichure 4-2, 5-4.

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