National Tennis Championship: Prateek, Vinayagamurthy advance to quarters in junior week

Top seed Prateek Sheoran and Tamil Nadu's D Vinayagamurthy maintained their unbeaten run to reach the quarterfinals of the 29th National Tennis Championship in their respective categories during the ongoing junior week of the tournament at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Prateek faced a tough challenge in the third round match of the boys singles Under-16 category as he lost the first set by 1-6 against Sumukh Marya before making a strong comeback and winning the second set. He then notched up the third set as well to win the match by 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinal.

On the other hand, Vinayagamurthy continued her winning run with a strong performance against 16th seed Prachi Malik in the girls singles Under-16 category. She dominated the match from the beginning and registered a win by 6-0, 6-1 in straight sets.

India’s largest domestic tennis tournament — supported by DCM Shriram Ltd., a leading business conglomerate, under the aegis of All India Tennis Association and Delhi Lawn Tennis Association, is witnessing the participation of exciting talents from various parts of the country fighting for the coveted crowns. The tournament has seen the participation of some of India’s top tennis stars in the past editions including Rohan Bopanna, Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri, Sania Mirza and Rutuja Bhosale among many others.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra 's Samarth Sahita also reached the last eight of the boys singles Under-16 category after beating Aditya Mor 6-1, 7-6 (6) in straight sets.

The boys singles Under-14 category saw Aradhya Mhasde of Maharashtra beating A Choudhari in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 to move into quarters, while top seed Aahan defeated Pooja Nagraj 6-1, 6-1 in the third round match.

Besides the prestigious titles, the winners are awarded with prize money with a total prize pool of over Rs 21.55 Lakh and Kit Allowance in the junior categories up for grabs. The winners and runners-up in the U16 and U14 singles events will also receive a Tennis scholarship of ₹25,000 each.

The Boys and Girls Under-16 & Under-14 category qualifying and main draw matches will go on till October 12.