Samyukth Balaji (Tamil Nadu) blitzed past Jeffy Jacob (Kerala) 6-0, 6-2 and entered the boys’ under-18 singles final of the T. Nilakanta Pillay memorial AITA Talent Series at the TTC courts here on Thurday.
In the final to be played on Friday, Balaji will cross swords with Tarun Mundkar (Haryana), who beat Gautham Krishnan (Kerala) 6-0, 6-2 in the second semifinal.
While the local challenge in the boys’ section ended on a tame note, the home camp nevertheless had reasons to cheer as Rhea John and A.V. Rithika set up an all-Kerala final in the girls’ under-14 category.
Rhea downed L. Sruthi (TN) 6-3, 6-4 while Rithika stopped Deepika Kumaran (TN) 6-2, 6-0 in their respective semifinal outings.
The results (semifinals):
Boys singles: Under-18: Samyukth Balaji bt Jeffy Jacob 6-0, 6-2; Tarun Mundkar bt Gautham Krishnan 6-0, 6-2. Under-14: J.P. Venkitachalam bt Aaron Raj 6-4, 6-2; L.R. Balaji bt Arnold Inigo 6-1, 6-0.
Girls singles: Under-18: Megha Muthukumaran bt Chaithali Adinath 7-5, 6-1; Advaitha Saravanan bt Celine Marai 6-3, 6-0. Under-14: Rhea John bt L. Sruthi 6-3, 6-4; A.V. Rithika bt Deepika Kumaran 6-2, 6-0.
Balaji will cross swords with Tarun Mundkar Rithika stops Deepika Kumaran
