Cover Photo – Deepthi Indukuri/KSLTA
Bengaluru: Oct 13: Wild cardentrant Sreenidhi Balaji of Karnataka stunned 10th-seeded Naomi Hagi in the first qualifying round of the SKME ITF Open at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium here on Sunday.
The Bengalurean, who turned 18 last month, got off to a slow start against the diminutive Hong Kong player. Known for her attacking play, once Sreenidhi got the measure of her rival, there was no stopping her.
The Karnataka player, who was a runner-up at the U-18 National clay court championships in Chennai two months ago, began to dominate the proceedings as the match wore on. After pocketing the first set, Sreenidhi ran away with the second to set up a final round meeting with the tall Kashish Bhatia.
Also advancing to the final round were three other Karnataka players — Vanshita Pathania, Amodini Naik and Sonicka Jadeesh. While top seed Vanshita scored a 6-2, 6-1 win over Siri Patil, also of Karnataka, Amodini and Sonicka scored shock wins over 11th-seeded Arthi Muniyan 6-1, 6-1 and 12th seed Priyanka Rodricks 5-7, 6-4, 10-8 respectively.
Results: Qualifiers (Round 1, Indians unless mentioned): Vanshita Pathania bt Siri Patil 6-1, 6-1; Jo-Leen Saw (Mas) bt Saily Prashantkumar Thakkar 6-3, 6-1; Kaili Demi Teso (Jpn) bt Suhani Gaur 6-1, 6-1; Amodini Naik bt Arthi Muniyan 6-1, 6-1; Sejal Gopal Bhutada bt Sameeksha Shroff 6-2, 6-2; Noelani Sara Teso (Jpn) bt Prisha Vyas (USA) 6-4, 6-3; Abhaya Vemuri bt Janani Ramesh 6-3, 6-3; Joell Nichole bt Ishwari Matere 7-5, 4-6, 10-8.
Sreenidhi Balaji bt Naomi Hagi (HK) 7-5, 6-1; Laalitya Kalluri bt Himadri Kashyap 6-2, 6-1; Kashish Bhatia bt Lakshmi Gowda 6-1, 6-2; Sonicka Jadeesh bt Priyanka Rodricks 5-7, 6-4, 10-8; Chandana Potugari bt Nidhitra Rajmohan 7-6 (7-2), 6-0; Sahira Singh bt Mile Cibulskyte (Ltu) 6-2, 6-2; Bela Tamhankar bt Diya Ramesh 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 10-8; Apurva Vemuri bt Surabhi Srinivas 6-2, 6-0
(Photos below by Deepthi Indukuri)
Vanshita Pathania
Sejal Bhutada
Sahira Singh
Kashish Bhatia
Bela Tamhankar
Abhaya Vemuri
Sonicka Jadeesh