Thombre, Thakkar, Sohoni create upsets to enter finals

Pune, Jan 4 (UNI) Pune's 8th seeded Sanaa Sohoni and 5th seeded Rakshay Thakkar, and Barshi's Pratharna Thombre brought off stunning upsets respectively to enter the finals of the V P Ogale Memorial MSLTA Junior Tennis Masters at the Deccan Gymkhana courts here today.

Sanaa knocked out Mumbai's 2nd seeded Madhuri Pathare in the girls under-14 event, while Rakshay defeated city-mate 2nd seeded Aniket Wakankar in the boys under-14 event. Pratharna won against 2nd seeded Avanee Gosavi of Pune in the girls under-12 event. In the boys semifinals, Rakshay put out Aniket 6-3, 6-3 to set up a title clash with top seeded Tushal Thawani who managed to scrape past Mumbai's Karan Avlani in a the super tie breaker 1-6, 7-5, 10-4.

In the girls semis, Sanaa continued her winning spree and blanked 2nd seeded Madhuri 6-3, 6-2. She will take on top seeded Vaidehi Bhagwat in the finals. Vaidehi scored an easy win over 7th seeded Sayali Patil of New Mumbai 6-0, 6-0.

Pratharna accounted for 2nd seeded Avanee 6-0, 6-1 to set up a title clash with Riddi Hegde of Mumbai. Riddhi, playing fluently on both flanks, defeated Gauri Baindoor 6-3,6-2.

Anamitra Chakravarty will clash with Mumbai-mate Nikhil Passi in the boys under-10 finals. He put out Karan Mehta 5-4 (7-2), 4-0, while Passi easily blanked out Nikhil Kannan 4-1, 4-2 in the other semifinal.

In the girl's under-10 section, top seed Snehadevi Reddy easily defeated 2nd seeded Kavita Mishra 4-0, 4-1, while Pune's Rutuja Bhosale showed great skill to put out Mumbai's Nandini Dass 4-1, 4-0 to enter the finals.

In the boys under-12 event, Pune's top seed Arjun Kadhe defeated Nasik's Rohan Bhatia 6-4, 6-3 to set up a clash with third seeded Vishal Passi of Mumbai. Passi easily outpaced city-mate fourth seeded Parth Shah 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals.

Folloiwing are the results (semi-finals): Boys Under-14: Tushal Thawani (1, Pune) bt Karan Avlani (4, Mum) 1-6, 7-5, 10-4; Rakshay Thakkar (5, Pune) bt Aniket Wakankar (2, Pune) 6-3, 6-3.

Boys Under-12: Arjun Kadhe (1, Pune) bt Rohan Bhatia (5, Nasik) 6-4, 6-3; Vishal Passi (3, Mum) bt Parth Shah (6, Mum) 6-2, 6-2.

Boys Under-10: Anamitra Chokravarty (1, Mum) bt Karan Mehta (2, Mum) 5-4 (2), 4-0; Nikhil Passi (3, Mum) bt Nikhil Kannan (4, Mum) 4-1, 4-2.

Girls Under-14: Vaidehi Bhagwat (1, Mum) bt Sayali Patil (7, New Mum) 6-0, 6-0; Sanaa Sohoni (8, Pune) bt Madhuri Pathare (2, Mum) 6-3, 6-2.

Girls Under-12: Prathana Thombare (4, Barshi) bt Avani Gosavi (2, Pune) 6-0, 6-1; Ridhi Hegde (1, Mumbai) bt Gauri Baindoor (3, Mumbai) 6-3, 6-2.

Girls Under-10: Snehadevi Reddy (1, Mumbai) bt Kavita Mishra (2, Mumbai) 4-0, 4-1; Rutuja Bhosale (5, Pune) bt Nandini Dass (6, New Mumbai) 4-1, 4-0.

UNI