ITF Davangere Open Men: The fancied players took their appointed spots in the semifinals of the ITF Davangere Open Men’s World Tennis Tour event at the Davanagere Tennis Association courts, thus promising some exciting action in the semifinals slated for Saturday.In the quarterfinals played here on Friday, top seed Nick Chappell of the USA dropped a set before registering a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory over fifth seed Sidharth Rawat to set up a last-four clash with eighth seed Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha. Niki was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Manish Sureshkumar.
Second-seed Bogdan Bobrov faced stiff resistance in the first set from Karan Singh while blanking his opponent in the second for a 7-5, 6-0 victory. The visitor will play the in-form Ramkumar Ramanathan in the other semifinal. The Davis Cupper brushed aside the challenge of Madhwin Kamath in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.
Meanwhile, the doubles semifinal matches went against the form as the fourth-seeded pair of Siddhant Banthia and Vishnu Vardhan rallied from a set down to upset the fancied pair of second-seeded Bogdan Bobrov and Nick Chappell 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 to make it to the title round.
In the final, the Indian duo will meet the third-seeded countrymates Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta and Manish Sureshkumar, who stunned the favourites and top seeds Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(3), 6-4. Incidentally, Karteek and Manish were the doubles finalists in the last leg in Dharwad.
Results:
(Seeds in parenthesis, Indians expect when mentioned)
Singles quarterfinals:
1-Nick Chappell (USA) bt 5-Sidharth Rawat 6-1, 3-6, 6-2; 2-Bogdan Bobrov bt Karan Singh 7-5, 6-0; 8-Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha bt Manish Sureshkumar 6-4, 6-3; Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Q-Madhwin Kamath 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles (semis):
3-Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta/Manish Sureshkumar bt 1-Purav Raja/Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6 (3), 6-4; 4-Siddhant Banthia/Vishnu Vardhan bt 2-Bogdan Bobrov/Nick Chappell (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
