October 2, 2003	Thursday	Sha’aban 5, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: The semifinals of the first leg of the ITF International Junior Tennis Tournament will feature only one home player - Shahzad Khan and three Indians including top seed Rupesh Roy.

Rupesh, started off his quarterfinal Wednesday losing the first set to Pakistan’s Wasif Cheema before recovering to score a 0-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory at the clay courts of Islamabad Club.

Third seed Shahzad on the other hand continued his march by knocking out India’s Sandeep Kumar, the 6th seed, in a quarterfinal that was a mere formality for him as he won 6-1, 6- 1.

Vivek Shokeen scored a major upset with a 7-6, 6-4 defeat of Sri Lankan fourth seed Nishendiran while No 2 seed Sumit Gupta showed fine form to book the last berth, hammering Mutib Pasha 6- 0, 6-1.

In the girls event, Punjaporn Ditthim of Thailand set up a clash in the final with her compatriot Nungnudda Wannasuk.

Ditthim, the top seed outplayed Puja Paul of India 6-0, 6-1 by hitting a number of winners down the line in the first semifinal while Nungnudda defeated Shweta Kakhandki 6-4, 6-4.

The boys doubles saw the Indian pair of Lalit Mann-Sandeep Kumar and Pakistan’s Shahzad Khan-Wasif Cheema advancing to the semifinals.

The Indian duo eliminated Rupesh Roy and Kaushik Das 6-4, 7-6 after a tough fight while the team of Shahzad-Wasif crushed Abid Ali-Nasir Mehmood 6-0, 6-1.

On the other hand Sumit-Vivek routed the pair of Danish Ahmed-Haris Iltifat 6-0, 6-2 in an easy outing while Peerakit and Nishendiran went past Mutib Pasha-Adnan Khan 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

Also going through were India’s Sumit Gupta-Vivek Shokeen and Peerakit Siributwong-Nishendiran Sivendran.

Meanwhile, Amita Arudpragasam along with her partner Thiyumi Abeysinghe qualified for the semifinals of the girls doubles competition as did Daksha Mulay-Nungnudda Wannasuk.

Arudpragasam-Thiyumi defeated Puja Paula-Saba Aziz without much difficulty 6-0, 6-0 and Mulay-Wannasuk breezed past the home team of Sara Mansoor-Anoosha Aslam 6-1, 6-0.

Results:

Boys singles quarterfinals: Rupesh Roy (Ind) bt Wasif Cheema (Pak) 0-6, 6-2, 6-1, Shahzad Khan (Pak) bt Sandeep Kumar (Ind) 6-1, 6-1, Vivek Shokeen (Ind) bt Nishendiran Sivendiran 7-6, 6-4, Sumit Gupta (Ind) bt Mutib Pasha (Pak) 6-0, 6-1

Girls singles semifinals: Punjaporn Ditthim (Tha) bt Paul Puja (Ind) 6-0, 6-1, Nungnudda Wanasuk (Tha) bt Shweta Kakhandki (Ind) 6-4, 6-4

Boys doubles quarterfinals: Lalit Mann-Sandeep Kumar (Ind) bt Rupesh Roy-Kaushik Das 6-4, 7-6, Shahzad Khan-Wasif Cheema (Pak) bt Abid Ali-Nasir Mehmood (Pak) 6-0, 6-1, Sumit Gupta-Vivek Shokeen (Ind) bt Danish Ahmed-Iltifat Haris (Pak) 6-0, 6-2, Peerakit Siributwong (Tha)-Nishendiran Sivendran (Sri) bt Mutib Pasha-Adnan Khan 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

Girls doubles quarterfinals: Amita Arudpragasam Amita-Sandeep Kumar (Sri) bt Paul Puja (Ind)-Saba Aziz (Pak) 6-0, 6-0, Daksha Mulay (Ind)-Nungnudda Wannasuk (Tha) bt Sara Mansoor-Anoosha Aslam (Pak) 6-1, 6-0.