Digvijay, Namita, Jaanesh maintain winning spree

Chandigarh, Apr 25 (UNI) Top-seed Digvijay Singh Mehta of Himachal Pradesh lived up to his reputation on his way to boys Under-14 as well as Under-16 singles semi-finals with ease in the AITA Championship Series Tennis here today.

Playing his natural game, Digvijay Singh Mehta ended the winning run of fifth seed Maninder Singh of Chandigarh in two straight set 6-1, 6-1.

Digvijay will now face qualifier Bharat Bhardwaj of Haryana who defeated Ankit Chaudhary of Delhi 6-2, 7-5.

From the lower half of the draw, second seed Mandeep Singh Gill will cross swords with Pullok Bhattacharya of Delhi. Pullok beat wild card entrant Naveen Shankar of CHART 6-1, 6-3.

Digvijay Singh Mehta has so far dropped only five games in the boys Under-14 singles before reaching semi-finals. Playing like a champion Digvijay Mehta disposed of the challenge of wild card Pankaj Kumar in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.

His opponent in the semi-finlal tomorrow will be sixth seed Anirudh Darp of Maharashtra who got the better of third seed Ajay Yadav 6-1, 2-6, 3-6.

The second semi-final will be played between fifth seed Karan P Kurup of Tamil Nadu and Gurinder Singh of Punjab, In quarter-final matches Gurinder defeated Sudhir Tanwar 6-3, 6-2 and fifth seed Karan P Kurup raced to a fine 6-0, 6-1 triumph.

Semi-finalists in the girls Under-14 as well as Under-16 have been spotted. In the girls Under-14 singles, top seed Namita Bal of Maharashtra will face unseeded Ikttesh Chahal of Chandigarh and second seed Saumya Sanghi of Delhi is pitted against Likhita Shetty of Karnataka.

Top seed Namita Bal and second seed Saumya Sanghi had a hard time in the girls Under-14 singles quarter-final encounters.

Unseeded Vidushi Bhalla of Delhi posed a threat to top seed Namita Bal of Maharashtra who just managed to snatch a hard fought win by 2-6, 7-6 (0), 7-5.

Second seed Saumya Sanghi was extended to three sets by eighth seed M Spurti of Andhra Pradesh 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Sanghi's opponent in the semi-final will be fifth seed Likhita Shetty of Karnataka who stunned third seed Tarranium Handa of Chandigarh 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Top seed Jaanesh Kaur of Chandigarh maintained her winning spree as she defeated seventh seed Prabhamrit Kaur, also of Chandigarh 6-3, 6-4. Jaanesh will now meet fifth seed Seeulee K Upadhaya (Orissa) who defeated Namita Bal of Maharashtra 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Unseeded Shilpa Naruka of Chandigarh and eight seed Mehak, also of Chandigarh moved into the girls under-16 semi-finals with straight sets wins.

The even was being conducted by the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association at the CLTA Tennis Stadium here.

Results (Quarterfinals): GIRLS UNDER-14 Singles Namita Bal (Maharashtra) bt Vidushi Bhalla (Delhi) 2-6, 7-6 (0), 7-5, Likhita Shetty (Karnatka) bt Tarranium Handa (Chandigarh) 7-6 (3), 6-3, Saumya Sanghi (Delhi) bt M. Spurthi (Andhra Pradesh) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, Ikttesh Chahal (Chandigarh) bt Arzoo Malik (Delhi) 6-4, 7-5.

GIRLS UNDER-16 Singles Jaanesh Kaur (Chandigarh) bt Prabhamrit Kaur (Chandigarh) 6-3, 6-4, Mehak Singh (Chandigarh) bt Baljinder Kaur (Haryana) 7-5, 6-1, Shilpa Naruka (Chandigarh) bt Parminder Kaur (Punjab) 6-2, 6-3, Seeulee K. Upadhya (Orissa) bt Namita Bal (Maharashtra) 6-2, 4-6,6-2.

BOYS UNDER-16 Singles Bharat Bhardwaj (Haryana) bt Ankit Chaudhary (Delhi) 6-2, 7-5, Pullok Bhatacharya (Delhi) bt Naveen Shankar (Chandigarh) 6-1, 6-3, Mandeep S. Gill (Chandigarh) bt Vijay Bhardwaj (Haryana) 6-1, 6-2, Digvijay S. Mehta (Himachal Pradesh) bt Maninder Singh (Haryana) 6-1, 6-1.

BOYS UNDER-14 Singles Digvijay S. Mehta (Himachal Pradesh) bt Pankaj Kumar (Chandigarh) 6-1, 6-0, Darp Anirudh Milind (Maharashtra) bt Ajay Yadav (Chandigarh) 6-1, 2-6, 3-6, Karan P. Kurup (Tamil Nadu) bt Shikhar Kumar (Delhi) 6-0, 6-1, Gurinder Singh (Punjab) bt Sudhir Tanwar (Delhi) 6-3, 6-2.

DOUBLES QUARTER FINAL ROUND BOYS UNDER-14 Ajay Yadav (Chandigarh)&Maninder Singh (Haryana) bt Digvijay S.

Naruka (Chandigarh)&Pankaj Kumar (Chandigarh) 4-6, 7-5, 10-8, Gagandeep S. Gill (Punjab)&Jashanveer Singh bt Tarun Chopra (Delhi)&Karan Bidani (Delhi) 6-2, 6-2, Sudhir Tanwar (Delhi)&Archit Sood (Punjab) bt Manish Kumar (Delhi)&Shikhar Kumar (Delhi) 3-6, 6-3, 10-5, Darp Anirudh Milind (Maharashtra)&Om Dalvi (Maharashtra) bt Abdul Rasheed Zian (Maldives)&Davinder Singh (Chandigarh) 6-0, 6-1.

BOYS UNDER-16 Ashwani Kumar (Chandigarh)&Mandeep S. Gill (Chandigarh) bt Bharat Bhardwaj (Haryana)&Vijay Bhardwaj (Haryana) 6-7 (3), 6-3, 10-6, Sunny Sharma (Delhi)&Rishab Arora (Delhi) bt Harry S. Amor (Chandigarh&Garry S. Amor (Chandigarh) 7-6 (6), 6-3, Akshat Joshi (Chandigarh)&Anubhav Chaudhary bt Sajal Chaudhary (Delhi)&Ankit Chaudhary (Delhi) 6-1, 6-2, Manpreet S. Chawla (Delhi)&Pullok Bhatacharya (Delhi) bt Paramveer S. Toor (Chandigarh)&Naveen Shankar (Chandigarh).

GIRLS UNDER-16 Sadhana Athrey&Akanksha Punj (Delhi) bt M. Spurthi (Andhra Pradesh)&Vidushi Bhalla (Delhi) 3-6, 6-3, 10-8, Shipla Naruka (Chandigarh)&Noor Paul (Chandigarh) bt Harnoor K. Mann (Chandigarh)&Rajvir Kaur (Chandigarh) 6-2, 6-3, Prabhamrit Kaur (Chandigarh)&Saumya Sanghi (Delhi) bt Kritika Paul (Delhi)&Tarranium Handa (Chandigarh) 6-2, 6-2, UNI