Bengaluru, Jan 15: Top seed Nikki Poonacha of Telangana will clash with second seed Prajwal Dev of Karnataka for the Men’s title while Tamil Nadu’s Sai Samhitha Chamarthi, seeded second will take on host State’s third seed Soha Sadiq for honours in the Women’s category of the Rs 2-lakh prize money AITA Championship hosted by held under the aegis of KSLTA.
In contrasting semifinals semifinals held att the Rohan Bopanna The Sports School Tennis Academy here on Thursday, former National champion Nikki raced past third seeded Suraj Prabodh 6-2, 6-1. Suraj struggled with his serves throughout the match and didn’t put up a semblance of resistance against a fired up Nikki.
On a stark contrast, Prajwal was made to sweat by his compatriot and No.4 seed Rishi Reddy. Rishi broke at 3-4 in the first and served out the set at 5-3. The second set saw multiple breaks but a determined Prajwal dug in and eked out a 6-3 win. Rishi tried hard to fight back in the third but Prajwal’s smart play didn’t allow him to gain any momentum while blanking his opponent.
In the women’s singles semifinals, Samhitha proved too strong for qualifier Sanjana Srimalla defeating her in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. Sai broke Sanjana at 4-3 in the first set and served it out at 5-3. The second set saw an early exchange of breaks but Sai stormed back to close off the set and match at 6-3.
In the second women’s semi final match local lass Soha Sadiq and the eight seed Reshma Maruri squared off against each other. Games went with serve till three games all in the first set. From there on the sixth game in the first set. However Soha leveraged her power and experience to triumph easily taking the match 6-3, 6-1.
The finals will he held on the morrow with the Women’s singles starting at 3 p.m.
Results (Semifinals)
Women’s Singles
Sai Samhitha Chamarthi [2] (TN) bt Sanjana Srimalla (TS) 6-3, 6-3;
Soha Sadiq [3] (KAR) bt Reshma Maruri [8] (KAR) 6-3, 6-1
Men’s Singles
Nikki Poonacha [1] (AP) bt Suraj Prabodh [3] (KAR) 6-2, 6-1;
Prajwal Dev [2] (KAR) bt Rishi Reddy [4] (KAR) 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.
