Mixed fortunes for Natasha Palha in junior tennis meet

Mumbai, May 10 (UNI) Goa's Natasha Palha had a mixed day as she lost in the under-14 category but bounced back to win the under-16 category in the Bombay Gymkhana-TCS All India National Super Series Junior Tennis Tournament 2007 at the Bombay Gymkhana here.

The girls under-14 top seed, Palha surprisingly lost to unseeded Amrita Mukherjee of West Bengal who cruised to a 0-6, 6-1, 6-2 win in the quarter-finals.

But Palha made amends in the under-16 category when as the No 6 seed, she shocked top seed Treta Bhattacharya of West Bengal 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

Mukherjee will now face Maharashtra's number eight seed Namita Bal, while second seed Vaidehi Bhagvat of Maharashtra will take on number six Sansitha Nandakumar of Tamil Nadu in the semi-finals of the under-14 category.

''I guess I was a bit overconfident against Amrita in the under-14, especially after winning the first set without losing a game,'' said the shy and soft-spoken Palha.

''She got better from the second set, while I just lost my way,'' she said, adding ''I learnt from my mistakes when I played the under-16 (quarter-finals) against Treta. I was better focused this time. I always believed I had the game.'' Among the boys, qualifier Jugal Marfatia of Maharashtra created a sensation when he stormed into the under-16 semi-finals following a straight sets win over R. Ram Kumar of Tamil Nadu.

Another qualifier Vaidik Munshaw of Gujarat also advanced to the semi-finals from the bottom half of the draw when he crushed unseeded Sirsala Surya of Andhra Pradesh 6-1, 6-1.

Third seed Tushal Thawani of Maharashtra and No 8 Pradeep K.Reddy of Andhra Pradesh were big casualties in the boys under-14 quarter-finals.

Results: Boys U-16 (QF): Jugal Marfatia (Mah) bt R. Ram Kumar (TN) 7-6 (5), 6-3; Rohit Bisht (Del) bt Sai N. Kartik (AP) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Vaidik Munshaw (Mah) bt Surya Sirsala (AP) 6-1, 6-1; Chetan Pandit (AP) bt Siddhanth Rawat (UP) 6-3, 6-4.

Boys U-14 (QF): Rohit Bisht (Del) bt Roopam Gogoi (Assam) 6-1, 6-1; R. Ram Kumar (TN) bt Tushal Thawani (Mah) 6-2, 6-0; Rakshay Thakkar (Mah) bt Pradeep Reddy (AP) 6-4, 6-2; Ronit Bisht (Del) bt Vishwesh Sinha (Mah) 6-1, 6-1.

Girls U-16 (QF): Natasha Palha (Goa) bt Treta Bhattacharya (WB) 6-4, 6-3; Sonia Dayal (Mah) bt Rachita Sarda (Kar) 6-3, 6-1; Shweta Rana (Del) bt Sansitha Nandakumar (TN) 6-4, 6-2; Arushi Sharma (Del) bt Jaanesh M. Kaur (Chn) 6-2, 6-2.

Girls U-14 (QF): Amrita Mukherjee (WB) bt Natasha Palha (Goa) 0-6, 6-1, 6-2; Namita Bal (Mah) bt Jeni Patel (Guj) 6-4, 6-0; Sansitha Nandakumar (TN) bt B. Sowjanya (AP) 6-2, 6-2; Vaidehi Bhagvat (Mah) bt Sayali Patil (Mah) 6-0, 6-1.

UNI