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.