Mandya, Jan 12:
As many as three Indians entered the quarterfinals of Men’s singles in the PET ITF Mandya Open in contrasting styles at the PET Stadium here on Thursday.
Qualifier Madhwin Kamath advanced to the last eight by overcoming an effervescent Yunseok Jang of Korea who had to pull out after suffering a hamstring pull. The Korean who had felled 8th seed S.D. Prajwal in the first round, was trailing 2-3 in the final set after both the players had won a set each.
Siddharth Vishwakarma overcame a fighting Manish Sureshkumar in a tough encounter 7-5, 6-4. Earlier, Manish had created the biggest flutter of the tournament thus far when he had shown second seed Giles Hussey of Great Britain the door with a 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1 victory in a first round match which was postponed overnight due to bad light.
Karan Singh became the third Indian to qualify after defeating country mate Ishaque Eqbal 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to set up a clash with the top seed Kris Van Wyk of South Africa, who quashed the hopes of local favourite Manish Ganesh in straight sets 6-0, 6-4.
India’s top ranked and fourth seeded Sasikumar Mukund, squandered away a few chances before bowing out of the event with a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 3-6 loss to Netherland’s Jelle Sels.
Madhwin who had played two tough qualifying rounds to make to the main draw had won against Grigoriy Lomakin of Kazakhstan in his opening round. Today, the 22-year-old who has his roots from Karnataka, Madhwin lost his serve in the very first game which eventually cost him the first set. The lad from Ahmedabad, broke Jang’s serve in the second game itself and went 3-0 up after holding his own serve. Results: Singles (Round of 16) 1-Kris Van Wyk (RSA) bt WC-Manish Ganesh 6-0, 6-4; Q-Madhwin Kamath bt Yunseok Jang (KOR) 4-6, 7-5, 3-2 (retd); 3-Orel Kimhi (ISR) bt Ofek Shimanov (ISR) 6-0, 1-6, 6-2; 5-Nam Hoang Ly (VIE) bt Vishnu Vardhan 6-4, 6-3; Q-Thijmen Loof (NED) bt Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (MAS) 7-6 (2), 6-2; Jelle Sels (NED) bt 4-Sasikumar Mukund 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3; Siddharth Vishwakarma bt Manish Sureshkumar 7-5, 6-4; Karan Singh bt Ishaque Eqbal 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Singles (Round of 32) Manish Sureshkumar bt 2-Giles Hussey (GBR) 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1; Jelle Sels (NED) bt Siddhant Banthia 6-4, 6-3; Ishaque Eqbal bt Q-Matt Hulme (AUS)7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1.
Doubles (Quarterfinals) 3-Tsung-Hao Huang (TPE)/Kris Van Wyk (RSA) bt Yunseok Jang (KOR)/Nam Hoang Ly (VIE) 7-6 (2), 1-6, 10-6; 1-Grigoriy Lomakin (KAZ)/David Pichler (AUT) Vs. Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta/Vishnu Vardhan 6-3, 3-1 (interrupted due to bad light); 4-Parikshit Somani/Manish Sureshkumar Vs. M Rifqi Fitriadi (INA)/Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (MAS) 2-2 (interrupted due to bad light) Orel Kimhi (ISR) / Ofek Shimanov (ISR) Vs. Woobin Shin (KOR)/Karan Singh 7-6 (8), 5-5 (interrupted due to bad light).
