Top-seeded Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan stayed on course for the title with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over Ajai Selvaraj in the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex here on Wednesday.
But the multi-pronged attack of Tamil Nadu suffered a bit of a jolt as second-seeded V.M. Ranjeet retired with an injured ankle against Arjun Kadhe in the third set of their pre-quarterfinal match.
Ajai needed medical attention midway through the final set, and was unable to provide any challenge to his opponent. His courage was admired though as he endured the pain to hobble through the match, rather than concede it.
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The left-handed Jeevan will be up against the fifth-seeded Ashwin Vijayaraghavan next, who hardly broke a sweat against former National champion Vinod Sridhar.
However, another former National champion V.M. Ranjeet, who bounced back well in the second set against wild card Arjun Kadhe, had to be helped off in a wheelchair.
The fine game of Arjun, guided by Davis Cup coach Nandan Bal, will be put to test in the quarterfinals when he faces the bespectacled Mohit Mayur.
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Ramkumar cruises
R. Ramkumar cruised into the quarterfinals for the loss of just one game, and will next take on Saurabh Singh whose opponent, the fourth-seeded P.C. Vignesh, retired early in the second set due to fever.
In the women’s section, Rishika Sunkara, Prerna Bhambri, Natasha Palha and Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy all advanced.
The results :
Men (pre-quarterfinals) : Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Ajai Selvaraj 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Ashwin Vijayaraghavan bt Vinod Sridhar 6-2, 6-1; Siddharth Rawat bt Kaza Vinayak Sharma 7-6(4), 6-1; Vaidik Munshaw bt Saurav Sukul 6-2, 6-2; R. Ramkumar bt Tejas Chaukalkar 6-0, 6-1; Saurabh Singh bt P.C. Vignesh 6-4, 1-1 retd; Mohit Mayur bt Ronak Manuja 6-3, 6-1; Arjun Kadhe bt V.M. Ranjeet 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 retd.
Doubles (semifinals) : Kaza Vinayak Sharma & Vivek Shokeen bt Elwin Antony & Neeraj Elangovan 6-3, 0-6, 10-7; Mohit Mayur & R. Ramkumar bt Rohan Gide & Arjun Kadhe 6-2, 6-2.
Women (pre-quarterfinals) : Rishika Sunkara bt Devanshi Bhimjiyani 6-2, 6-3; Vaniya Dangwal bt Megha Sehrawat 3-0 retd; Natasha Palha bt Damini Sharma 6-2, 6-3; Eetee Maheta bt Sonal Phadke 6-1, 6-2; Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy bt Vineeta Singh 6-0, 6-0; Shweta Rana bt Sai Samhitha 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; Simran Sethi bt Bhuvana Kalva 7-5, 6-3; Prerna Bhambri bt Tarrannum Handa 6-2, 6-2.
U-18 boys (pre-quarterfinals) : Rishab Aggarwal bt Gokul Suresh 6-0, 6-1; M. Sai Nikhil bt Yash Deshpande 7-5, 6-4; Neeraj Elangovan bt Suraj Prabodh 6-3, 6-2; A.K. Partha Saradhi bt Rakshit Rishi 6-4, 6-1; Hardeep Singh Sandhu bt Sachin Kumar 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4; Karan Salwan bt Keneizotuo Whourie 6-4, 6-2; Ranjeet Singh bt Vilasier Khate 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Shaikh Abdullah bt B.R. Nikshep 6-4, 6-0.
Doubles (semifinals) : Anvit Bendre & Shaikh Abdullah bt Nischay Rawal & Hardeep Sandhu 6-0, 7-5; Shailendar Boniface & Garry Tokas bt Ritvik Anand & Manav Kumar Chakma 4-6, 6-4, 10-8.
U-18 girls (pre-quarterfinals) : Simran Sethi bt Isha Budwal 6-0, 6-0; Tarrannum Handa bt Mahitha Dadireddy 7-6(9), 6-2; Sai Samhitha bt Akshara Iska 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Rimpledeep Kaur bt Devanshi Bhimjiyani 6-3, 6-2; Amrita Mukherjee bt Shreya Pasricha 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Pranjala Yadlapalli bt Zeel Desai 6-2, 6-0; Himani Mor bt Sruta Kirti Gunuganti 6-3, 6-3; Nehal Sahni bt Rajbir Kaur 6-3, 6-3.
Doubles (semifinals) : Himani Mor & Vanshika Sawhney bt Akshara Iska & Rimpledeep Kaur 7-5, 4-6, 17-15; Jahnavi Gupta & Vineeta Singh bt Ramya Natarajan & Mihika Yadav 7-5, 6-1.