Top seed Divij Sharan bows out due to injury

New Delhi, Oct 12 (UNI) An injury on top seed Divij Sharan's serving left shoulder saw him give a walkover to Purav Raja, while second seed Aditya Madkekar also crashed out of the DSCL Open National tennis championship here today.

For Divij, it was a tough decision to make, as he had been playing with pain this week. Nevertheless, for Purav Raja, making his maiden entry into the National semi-finals, it was a big day.

Raja has made a lot of improvement in the last one year and will now face Sanam Singh in the last four.

Sanam Singh won a hard match against Vivek Shokeen in the other quarter-finals. He may be short in height, but he makes up for that shortcoming with poise and purpose. It was no different as the match of high contest saw both players battle hard. In the end, Sanam won 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, with no break of serve in the first set.

Delhi boy Ashutosh Singh also had a good day as he walloped Aditya Madkekar, the second seed, 6-2 rpt 6-2, 6-1. Ashutosh, part of the AITA programme, was in great form and gave little chance to second seeded Madkekar.

Completing the last four line up was Vishnu Vardhan who showed fighting spirit to get past Arjun Goutham 6-2, 6-7(4/7), 7-5.

In the ladies' section, Vishika Sheoran continued to make waves as she cruised past Sweta Solanki 6-0, 6-3 in a quarter-final encounter.

Meanwhile, local favourite Vishika will now run into second seed Sandhy Nagaraj.

Sandhya beat Shalini Sahoo 6-4, 6-2 while Sonal Phakde had to work hard for her 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 win against Kelsey Sundaram.

Kelsey, a junior from Chennai, waged a great battle but Sonal's experience was a huge factor. Sonal will next face Isha Lakhani who came good against Parija Maloo for a 6-3, 6-4 win.

Results: (Quarter-finals): Men: Ashutosh Singh bt Aditya Madkekar 6-2, 6-1; Sanam K Singh bt Vivek Shokeen 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 rpt 7-6 (7/4), 6-4; J Vishnu Vardhan bt Arjun Goutham 6-2, 6-7(4/7) 7-5; Purav Raja walkover from Divij Sharan Women: Isha Lakhani bt Parija Maloo 6-3, 6-4; Sonal Phadke bt Kelsey Sunderam 7-6(7) 6-4; Vishaka Sheoran bt Sweta Soolanki 6-0 6-3; Sandhya Nagaraj bt Shalini Sahoo 6-4, 6-2.

Boys: Fariz Mohammad bt Alan Gomes 6-4 6-2; Arnav Jain bt G P Prajnesh 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 Girls: Kelsey Sundaram bt Shweta Solanki 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; Kyra Shroff bt Vishaka Sheoran 7-5, 6-1; Parija Maloo bt Nupur Kaul 6-1, 6-2; Madura Ranganathan bt Ashmitha 6-1, 7-5.

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