KARACHI, Aug 22: Unseeded Sumeet Shinde of India scored the biggest upset so far in the ITF juniors’ ranking tennis tournament when he toppled compatriot and top seed Shiva Sangwan in three sets to cruise into the boys’ singles semi-finals on a rainy day at the Karachi Club on Wednesday.
Ranked 1009th in the world, Shinde recovered from the first set loss of 0-6 to turn the tables on his opponent, taking the next two sets 6-1, 6-1.
A native of Chandigarh, Shiva is ranked 413th in the world.
Joining Shinde in the last four was another unseeded player Nuttorn Tanchainant of Thailand, who got past ninth seed Jugal Marfatia (India) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Jugal, who had sent fifth seed Lakshit Sood packing on Tuesday, failed to maintain his form.
Earlier, heavy rain affected the schedule, forcing the organisers to delay the matches for at least five hours. The KC administration put in extra labour to drain out the water and make the courts playable. However, some of the boys’ doubles matches remained unfinished.
Spanish Carol Benito, the fifth seed, ended pretensions of fourth seed Dipti Shrivastava of India with a 6-3, 6-2 win to book a berth in the last four.
She was joined in the last four by top seed Indian Inayat Khosla, who accounted for fellow countrywoman Richa Valecha 6-4, 6-2.
The two boys’ doubles matches which remained unfinished will be resumed on Thursday.
The girls’ doubles match between Mehak Khokhar/Ushna Suhail and Anoosha Aslam/Isha Razdan was also rescheduled for Thursday.
Results:
Boys’ singles quarter-finals: Sumeet Shinde (Ind) bt Shiva Sangwan (Ind) 0-6, 6-1, 6-1; Nuttorn Tanchainant (Thai) bt Jugal Marfatia (Ind) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Girls’ singles quarter-finals: Carol Benito (Spain) bt Dipti Shrivastava (Ind) 6-3, 6-2; Inayat Khosla (Ind) bt Richa Valecha (Ind) 6-4, 6-2.
Girls’ doubles quarter-finals: Natasha Afridi/Soniya Dayal bt Susita Das/Asha Mohan 6-3, 6-4.
Thursday’s fixtures:
Boys’ singles quarter-finals: (9.30am) Mandeep Yadav (Ind) v Nasir Mushtaq (Pak); Gugan Varma (Ind) v Chandril Sood (Ind).
Girls’ singles quarter-finals: Natasha Afridi (Jpn) v Ratnika Batra (Ind); Soniya Dayal (Ind) v Asha Mohan (Ind).
Girls’ doubles quarter-finals: Richa Valecha/Dipti Shrivastava v Mehreen Izhar/Sindhura Polauarapu; Anoosha Aslam /Isha Razdan v Mehak Khokhar/Ushna Suhail; Sarah Mahboob/Inayat Khosla v Ratnika Batra/Carol Benito.
Boys’ doubles quarter-finals: Chandam Shaolin/Shiva Sangwan v Yasir Khan/ Tanveer Ashiq; Lakshit Sood/Chandril Sood v Ahmed Aslam/Nasir Mushtaq (unfinished match); Kaza Sharma/Sameer Paranjape v M. Abid Ali/Thangarajah Dineshkanthan (unfinished match); Wasin Wijaya/Dussadee Darakamas v Gugan Verma/Nehal Kapoor.
