Suraj faces Nischay, Simran faces Bhavika in AITA finals

Chandigarh, Apr 12 (UNI) Suraj Beniwal of Haryana shocked top seed Gurinder Singh of Chandigarh in a marathon 210-minute semi-final encounter in the boys under-14 singles of the AITA Talent Tennis Championship here today.

Gurinder Singh raced to 1-0 lead by winning the first set at 6-3 and later led 3-1 in the second set before Suraj Beniwal ralied to level the score one-all by winning the second set in tie breaker 7-6 (3).

Then the lanky Haryana lad wrapped up the issue with a 6-2 verdict in the deciding and third set. There were a lot of disputed line calls by Gurinder.

Both players served powerfully and executed their strokes with power and precision. It was the match temperament, which helped Beniwal clinch a final berth.

Beniwal's opponent in the final tomorrow will be Nischay Rawal of Chandigarh, who defeated Kamal Kishore Maderana of Rajasthan by 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3.

At the centre court Nischay and Kamal were engaged in another marathon match, which lasted 220 minutes. Nischay led 4-1 before Kamal started returning well and led 6-5 in the first set, which Nischay won in tiebreaker 7-6.

In the decider, the players were seen playing highball game, which resulted in long rallies. Ultimately, Nischay displayed better stamina and staying power to move into final.

Earlier, third-seed Nischay Rawal of Chandigarh ended the victory run of fifth seeded Suraj Hasrani of Kerala with an easy 6-1, 7-5 victory in the boys under-12 semi-final.

Rawal, a seventh class student of St Anne's-32, will face top seed Digvijay Singh Naruka, also of Chandigarh, in the final tomorrow.

Livening up to his seeding, top favourite Digvijay Singh Naruka of Chandigarh easily defeated Ranjeet Singh, also of Chandigarh, by 6-1, 6-0 in the second semi-final.

Simran Kaur Sethi of Delhi advanced to the finals of the girls under-12 as well as girls under-14. Seeded second Simran Sethi ended the challenge of third Jasmine Kaur Bajaj, also of Delhi 6-4, 6-0 in the girls under-12 girls singles semi-final.

The matches in the under-12 singles have progressed according to the seedings. Simran will now match top seed Bhavika Wadhawan of Chandigarh who ousted Rajvir Kaur of Punjab whom he defeated 6-4, 6-0.

Simran Kaur Sethi is in line for a golden double as she faces top-seeded and hot contender Ikttesh Chahal of Chandigarh in the girls under-14 singles final.

Simran defeated Rimpledep Kaur of Punjab by 6-2, 6-1 in an all-unseeded girls singles semi-finals. Ikttesh Chahal defeated Harnoor Kaur Man of Chandigarh in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 in the second semi-final match.

UNI