Kolkata, Jan 17 (IANS) Third seed Vishnu Vardhan of Tamil Nadu entered the men’s final without breaking too much of a sweat, to settle for a title clash with statemate Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur in the national grass court tennis championship here Friday.
The women’s summit round would see another Tamil Nadu competitor Rushmi Chakravarthi take on Goa’s Natasha Palha at the Calcutta South Club.
Both the finals would be played Saturday.
Vardhan got past wild card entrant Ashwin Vijayragavan of Andhra Pradesh 6-3,6-2 in the semi final.
In the opening set, Vardhan broke his rival in the eighth game and eventually pocketed it. In the second, Vardhan did not allow Vijayragavan to grab a single game after 2-2, as he won the set convincingly.
Vardhan will face the 2nd seed from Tamil Nadu, Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur, who got the better of the strong Chandril Sood, who retired with an ankle twist at 6-4, 3-0 (15-0, retd).
Chandril, at the first point after 3-0 in the second set, went for a stretch volley and lost balance, injuring his ankle. Sood had to retire as he was not in the condition to continue with the match.
Seventh seeded Rushmi Chakravarthi ended the dream run of Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy by a long three setter, lasting for 2hrs and 50mins. Chakravarthi won 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Second seed in the Women’s Singles, Natasha Palha from Goa was stretched very far by fifth seeded Bhuvana Kalva from Andhra Pradesh, as the former fought hard for 2hrs and 55mins to win the marathon by 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
Match Scores (WB, if not specified);
Men’s Singles (SF):
Vishnu Vardhan (TN)(3) bt Ashwin Vijayragavan (AP) 6-3,6-2
Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur (TN)(2) bt Chandril Sood (UP)(4) 6-4,3-0 (15-0, retd)
Women’s Singles (SF):
Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN)(7) bt Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy (AP) 6-4,4-6,6-3
Natasha Palha (GOA)(2) bt Bhuvana Kalva (AP)(5) 7-5,5-7,6-4
Men’s Doubles (SF):
Ronak Manuja (MAH) & Ashwin Vijaragavan (AP)(1) bt Nitten Kirrtane (MAH) & S K Mukund (AP) 6-3,6-2
Vijay Sundar Prashanth (TN) & Md Fariz (TN)(2) bt Kaza Vinayak Sharma (AP) & jayaprakash Mohit Mayur (TN) 6-2,6-1
Women’s Doubles (SF):
Natasha Palha (GOA) & Nidhi Chilumula (AP)(2) bt C Sai Samitha (TN) & Amrita Mukherjee (3) 6-1,6-3
Shweta Rana (DLI) & Sharmada Balu (KAR)(1) vs Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN) & Bhuvana Kalva (AP) – Unfinished