Singh, Mukundan to clash in AITA boys' final

Sixth seed Chatwinder Singh of Chandigarh and unseeded N Mukundan of Tamil Nadu will clash in the boys' singles (under-18) final of adidas AITA junior tennis tournament in Bombay on Saturday.

In the semi-finals on Friday, Singh pipped seventh seed Abedin Sham of Maharashtra 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours 15 minutes while Mukundan crushed unseeded Gavryl Fernandes of Maharashtra 7-5, 6-3 in one hour 50 minutes.

Mukundan along with Karan Doctor of Maharashtra won the doubles final, beating the Karnataka pair of Dheeraj Shetty and T Tejaswar 6-3, 6-1 in one hour.

The girls' singles (under-18) final will be played between fifth seed Sandari Gangotri of Andhra Pradesh and unseeded Kartiki Bhat of Maharashtra.

In one-sided semi-finals on Friday, Sandari crushed sixth seed Anuja Parikh of Maharashtra 6-2, 6-4 in 45 minutes while Kartiki sidelined seventh seed Shradha Lodha of Maharashtra 6-2, 6-0 in half an hour.

However, Shradha had the consolation of winning the doubles event along with her teammate Johan Fernandes. They defeated Fathima Baig of Tamil Nadu and Poonam Reddy of Andhra Pradesh 6-3, 6-4 in 45 minutes.

In the boys' under-14 semi-finals, top seed Karan Rastogi of Maharashtra drubbed seventh seed Anatha L Bhaskar of Tamil Nadu 6-1, 6-0 in 25 minutes while unseeded Prashant Sunder of Tamil Nadu shocked fourth seed N K Narsimhan of Maharashtra 6-3, 6-0.

In the girls' under-14 semi-finals, second seed Kartiki Bhat and her sixth seeded teammate Nidhi Shah came out triumphs.

Kartiki subdued third seed Urmila Ram of Andhra Pradesh 6-0, 6-2 in half an hour while Nidhi accounted for fourth seed Sandri Gangotri of Andhra Pradesh 7-5, 6-2 in one hour ten minutes.

Results:

Boys' singles (under-18) semi-finals: Chatwinder Singh (Chd) bt Abedin Sham (Mah) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; N Mukundan (TN) bt Gavryl Fernandes (Mah) 7-5, 6-3.

Under-14: Karan Rastogi (Mah) bt Anathal Bhaskar (TN) 6-1, 6-0; Prashant Sundar (TN) bt N K Narsimhan (Mah) 6-3, 6-0.

Under-18 doubles (final): Karan Doctor (Mah)/ N Mukundan (TN) bt Dheeraj Shetty/ T Tejaswar (Knt) 6-3, 6-1.

Girls singles (under-18) semi-finals: Sandri Gangotri (AP) bt Anuja Parikh (Mah) 6-2, 6-4; Kartiki Bhat (Mah) bt Shradha Lodha (Mah) 6-2, 6-0.

Under-14: Kartiki Bhat (Mah) bt Urmila Ram (AP) 6-0, 6-2; Nidhi Shah (Mah) bt Sandri Gangotri (AP) 7-5, 6-2.

Under-18 doubles final: Shradha Lodha/ Johan Fernandes (Mah) bt Fathima Baig (TN)/ Poonam Reddy (AP) 6-3, 6-4.