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Thien stuns top seed Agil

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Thien Nguyen Hoang, the US-based Vietnamese youngster, stunned top seed Syed Muhammad Agil of Malaysia in an engrossing three setter at 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 and advanced to the semifinals of the Asian Tennis Federation ranking under-14 championship at the Bowring Institute courts here on Wednesday.

The clash between the fifth seeded Thien, ranked No. 20 on the ATF list, and Agil, ranked No.4, was easily the pick of the day. After nearly two hours it was Thien’s ability to withstand the pressure on a hot and humid day that made the difference.

Stroke wise, both came up with a matching display, belting out strong groundstrokes and chasing each other’s returns. Thien, who trains under Ashok Bikkanavar, a veteran coach from Bangalore who has his own academy in the US, was able to convert half chances with alacrity and made Agil earn every point.

In the first set neither flinched as they raced to a tie-breaker holding their serves. In the tie-breaker, it was Agil who took a 6-2 lead. Thien stalled him for a while, bridging to gap to 5-6, but Agil took that extra point to seal the set. In the second, which saw some good rallies, Thien cracked his rival in the ninth game and wrapped up the set on his serve.

Holding his nerve

In the decider, both had their moments breaking each other once, before Thien held his nerve to force a second break and went on to the take the set and match on serve.

Thien now meets Alla Abhishek in the semifinals as the latter defeated Nischal Rawal with consummate ease at 6-2, 6-2. In the other semifinals, Vinod Gowda will take on the third seed, Naruka Digvijay. Gowda essayed another facile win, defeating Surya Pavan 6-1, 6-1 while Digvijay humbled A.K. Parthasarathy 6-4, 6-1.

The top two seeds in the girls’ singles had to sweat it out to book their spots in the semifinals. Sai Samhita stretched the No.1 seed, Tarrunam Handa, who won 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2).

In another well fought encounter, Jasmine Kaur Bajaj gave the second seed Thieviya Selvaraju of Malaysia a run for her money. Theiviya prevailed in a tie-breaker finish at 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(2).

In other quarterfinal ties, Swetha Srihari defeated Roma Chandran 6-1, 6-2 and Rimpledeep Kaur stopped Shreya Malhotra 6-2, 6-2. In the semifinals, Rimpledeep will meet Tarrunam while Thieviya takes on Swetha,

The results (Indians unless specified): Quarterfinals: Boys: Thien Nguyen Hoang (Vie) bt Syed Muhammad Agil (Mas) 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4; Alla Abhishek bt Nischay Rawal 6-2, 6-2; Naruka Digvijay bt A.K. Parthsarathy 6-4, 6-1; Vinod Gowda bt Surya Pavan 6-1, 6-1.

Girls: Tarrunnam Handa bt C. Sai Smritha 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2); Swetha Srihari bt Roma Chandran 6-1, 6-2; Thieviya Selvaraju bt Jasmine Kaur Bajaj 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4); Rimpledeep Kaur bt Shreya Malhotra 6-2, 6-2.

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