Nagpur, India – March 3, 2024: Several Indian players enjoyed success on the opening day of the $25,000 Maha Urja Nagpur Open ITF Women’s Championships. The tournament, organized by the Nagpur District Hard Court Tennis Association (NDHTA) and Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) under the auspices of the ITF and AITA, is being played on the clay courts of the MSLTA Tennis Academy Tennis Complex in Ramnagar.
Upsets and Close Battles Highlight First Round
In the first round of qualifying, eleventh seed Saumya Vig displayed resilience to overcome a tough challenge from Anastasia Sergienko, winning 6-4, 5-7, 10-7. 18 year old Lakshmi Gowda caused an upset by defeating eighth seed Mei Hasegawa of Japan 6-4, 3-6, 10-7. 19 year old Joell Nichole, playing with a wildcard, also pulled off an upset victory, defeating fifth seed and WTA #834 Gyeong Seo Lee of Korea 3-6, 6-2, 10-7. Unseeded Kavya Khirwar also pulled off an upset win against 16th seeded Nidhitra Rajmohan in 3 sets.
Vaishnavi Adkar, seeded fourth, had a more straightforward win against veteran Sharmada Balu, winning 6-2, 6-4. Pooja Ingale also cruised to victory, defeating local wildcard Ekta Ingle 6-0, 6-1.
Full First Round Results:
- Ikumi Yamazaki (Jpn) [1] d. Ishwari Matere (Ind) 6-1, 6-2
- Anastasia Zolotareva (Rus) [2] d. Jigyasa Narsinghani (Ind) 6-1, 6-0
- Michika Ozeki (Jpn) [3] d. Apurva Vemuri (Ind) 6-0, 6-1
- Rinon Okuwaki (Jpn) [7] d. Kashish Bhatia (Ind) 6-4, 6-2
- Suhitha Maruri (Ind) [10] d. Abhaya Vemuri (Ind) 6-3, 6-1
- Saumya Vig (Ind) [11] d. Anastasiia Sergienko (Rus) 6-4, 5-7, 10-7
- Anjali Rathi (Ind) d. Priyanshi Bhandari (Ind) [15] 6-4, 6-3
- Lakshmi Gowda (Ind) d. Mei Hasegawa (Jpn) [8] 6-4, 3-6, 10-7
- Vaishnavi Adkar (Ind) [4] d. Sharmada Balu (Ind) 6-2, 6-4
- Pooja Ingale (Ind) [9] d. Ekta Ingle (Ind) 6-0, 6-1
- Kundali Majgaine (Ind) [14] d. Shefali Arora (Ind) 6-1, 6-1
- Soha Sadiq (Ind) [13] d. Kotistha Modak (Ind) 6-2, 3-6, 11-9
- Kavya Khirwar (Ind) d. Nidhitra Rajmohan (Ind) [16] 3-6, 6-3, 10-7
- Akanksha Nitture (Ind) [12] d. Bela Tamhankar (Ind) 6-4, 5-7, 11-9
- Humera Baharmus (Ind) [6] d. Sahira Singh (Ind) 6-2, 0-6, 15-13
- Joell Nichole (Ind) d. Gyeong Seo Lee (Kor) [5] 3-6, 6-2, 10-7