Tumakuru, May 4: An exciting week of international tennis awaits as the ITF W35 tournament gets underway in Tumakuru, with a strong field led by top seed Justina Mikulskyte of Lithuania.
In the draw ceremony attended by Dr. G. Parameshwara, Hon’ble Home Minister and District In-charge Minister, Tumakuru and Ms. Subha Kalyan, Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate, Tumakuru, here on Monday, Justina was drawn against Saumya Vij of India.
Poland’s Zuzanna Pawlikowska comes in as the second seed, while India will have strong representation at the top with third seed Vaidehee Chaudhari and fourth seed Zeel Desai, both of whom will be keen to make a deep run on home soil. While Vaidehee will meet local star Soha Sadiq, Zeel locks horns with lucky loser Jeetesh Kumar in the opening round.
The depth of the draw is further underlined by the presence of fifth seed Elina Nepliy and sixth seed Ekaterina Yashina, alongside Japan’s Michika Ozeki, seeded seventh, and India’s Akanksha Nitture, who rounds off the top eight.
Adding further strength to the Indian contingent will be Shruthi Ahlawat, who arrives in Tumakuru in red-hot form, having clinched her maiden ITF title at a W15 event in Delhi on Sunday. Riding high on confidence, she will be one of the players to watch as she looks to carry her momentum into this higher-grade tournament.
Meanwhile, Amodhini Naik, Pooja Ingle, Harshini Nagaraj and Jennifer Luikham (all Indians) were handed the wildcards for the main draw.
Earlier in the day, local favourite Snigdha Kanta brought cheer to the home crowd as she booked her place in the main draw along with seven others.
Up against fourth seed Vanshita Pathania, Snigdha made a confident start, taking control of rallies early and racing to a 6-2 lead in the opening set. With momentum firmly on her side, she looked set to continue her dominance before Pathania was forced to retire due to a swollen foot, handing Snigdha a well-earned passage into the main draw. The result marked a significant moment for the Karnataka player, who has been one of the standout performers from the host state.
Top seed Laxmisiri Dandu also progressed comfortably, defeating the in-form Shreeniti Chowdhury 6-3, 6-2, while second seed Bela Tamhankar overcame Lakshmi Gowda 6-4, 6-3 to secure her spot.
Among other results, Danica Fernando produced a strong comeback to defeat seventh seed Sahira Singh 5-7, 6-0, 10-6, while eighth seed Sreemanya Reddy Anugonda recovered from a set down to get past Saily Prashantkumar Thakkar 0-6, 6-4, 10-4.
Qualifying results
Women’s Singles (qualifying round-2) (pre-fix denoted seeding)
2-Bela Tamhankar (Ind) bt Lakshmi Gowda (Ind) 6-4, 6-3;
1-Laxmisiri Dandu (Ind) bt Shreeniti Chowdhury (Ind) 6-3, 6-2;
5-Chevika Reddy Sama (Ind) bt 11-Aakruti Narayan Sonkusare (Ind) 6-3, 7-5;
3-Kashish Bhatia (Ind) bt Jeetesh Kumari (Ind) 6-2, 6-3;
Snigdha Kanta (Ind) bt 4-Vanshita Pathania (Ind) 6-2, (retired);
12-Aishwarya Jadhav (Ind) bt 6-Aahan Aahan 6-3, 6-4;
9-Danica Fernando (Ind) bt 7-Sahira Singh (Ind) 5-7, 6-0, 10-6;
8-Sreemanya Reddy Anugonda (Ind) bt 16-Saily Prashantkumar Thakkar (Ind) 0-6, 6-4, 10-4.
