Indians fight but falter at ITF Junior Tennis Championships
Unseeded player Siddhant Banthia took advantage of home conditions to cause the first upset of the ITF Junior Championships toppling sixth-seeded Rian Pundole 6-3, 7-5 in the opening round.
Playing at MSLTA’s School of Tennis in Mhalunge, Balewadi, where the international championship is being organised by MSLTA and PMDTA, 16-year-old Banthia broke Pundole in the 11th game and held on to his serve in the 12th game.
It was a bad day for Indians despite solid performances, as they could not register wins against foreign opponents. Anurag Nenwani scored a 7-5, 6-0 win to oust Georgian David Chelidze in the opening round and top seeded Lithuanian Robert Wrzesinski went through a tough time tackling Dev Javia before winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Georgian Irakali Metreveli also struggled before overcoming Abhimanyu Vannemreddy 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Fourth-seeded British player Finn Bass also struggled before humbling Vikrant Dahiya 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
In other encounters of the day, Rishi Reddy scraped past Shrey Gupta 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6) in perhaps which was the toughest match of the day, while Param Pun ended the challenge of qualifier Piyush Salekar 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
In the girls section, Sravya Shivani Chilakalpudi edged out Priyana Kalita 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, while Shivani Ingle outplayed Aesha Patel of USA 7-5, 6-1 to enter the second round.
In the girls’ section, top-seeded Georgina Axon of Britain, sixth-seeded Kristina Novak of Slovakia, Sing-Le Fan Chiang of Taipei and seventh seeded Milana Lysova of Kazakhstan also moved into round two without much trouble.
