CLTA’s Junior in second round

ITF Men’s Futures US$-15,000 Tennis Tournament

February-2017 at CLTA, Chandigarh

CLTA’s Junior in second round

CLTA, Chandigarh, February 14, 2017               In a sensational upset diminutive Rishabh Sharda, a 17 years old trainee of CLTA defeated higher ranked Anirudh Chandershekhar in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. Matching his older opponent in skill and speed Rishabh ran through the first set at 6-2. Anirudh fought back strongly to take a 3-0 lead in the second set. Displaying great fighting quality and anticipation and cheered on by other young supporters from CLTA’s junior programme Rishabh took four games in a row to lead at 4-3. Thereafter in a game marked by long rallies from the baseline Rishabh prevailed to capture the second set 6-4 and pocketed the match. An indigenous product of CLTA’s junior development programme, Rishabh fully justified the wild card that CLTA had generously given to him. The next important test for Rishabh Sharda, would be a tough opponent Sriram Balaji the number 2 in the tournament.

According to Rishabh’s coach Mr. Romen Singh, Chief Coach, CLTA the boy has potential to go higher in the men’s circuit. This was Rishabh’s first outing in ITF Men’s tournaments.

Another former CLTA trainee Sanam Singh, an Asian Gold Medalist, came back from deficit in the first set to win in tie breaker at 7-6 (2) and clinched the second set and the match at 6-3. Sanam Singh is now a Police Officer, but trains at CLTA whenever he is in Chandigarh and also conducts clinics to inspire young generation of tennis players in CLTA.

Vinsant Shane of USA upset 6^th seed Prashanth N. 6-1, 6-3. Other players who moved into second are Vishnu Vardhan, Shabaaz Khan, Niki Poonacha, Aryan Goveas, Peranamallur V., Sidharth Rawat, Hadin Bava, S. Mukund and S. Vishawakarma,

Singles second round matches will be played tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. onwards at CLTA Tennis Stadium.

Results are as follows:-

Main Draw 1^st Round

1. Rishabh Sharda (IND) bt. Anirudh Chandershekhar (IND) 6-2, 6-1
2. Sanam Singh (IND) bt. Karunuday Singh (IND) 7-6(2), 6-3
3. [3]Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt. Paramveer Bajwa (IND) 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(6)
4. Shabaaz Khan (IND) bt. Rishabh Aggarwal (IND) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
5. Niki Poonacha (IND) bt. [8]Jose Fco. Vidal Zorin (ESP)
6. Aryan Goveas (IND) bt. Haenle Pirmin 7-5, 6-2
7. Peranamallur V. (IND) bt. Adil Kalyanpur (IND) 6-3, 7-6(7)
8. [7]Sidharth Rawat (IND) bt. Jaiprakash M. (IND) 6-4, 6-4
9. Vinsant Shane (USA) bt. [6] Prashanth N. (IND) 6-1, 6-3
10. Hadin Bava (IND) bt. Dalwinder Singh (IND) 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(4)
11. [4] S. Mukund (IND) bt. Terczynski Mateusz (POL) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
12. S. Vishawakarma (IND) bt. Khabibulin Timur (KAZ) 6-1, 7-5