Five Indians advance in Asian juniors meet

Megh Bhargav Patel, Akansha Bhan, Rhea Verma, Vaidehi Chaudari and Under-16 national champion Tanisha Kashyap moved into the singles second round at the HCL Asian Junior Tennis Championship for boys and girls in Pune on Tuesday.

Gujarat’s Patel, ranked 516, created a ripple by ousting higherranked Chinese rival Tao Mu 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a match lasting two hours and 30 minutes.

In the girls’ section, third seed Akanksha Bhan battled anxious moments in the first set but managed to eliminate Zhao Xiaoxi of China 7-6(4), 6-4 at the MSLTA School of Tennis in Balewadi.

Vaidehi Chaudhari, seeded seventh, trounced Ayu Sugiyama of Japan 6-0, 6-0. Eighth seed Rhea Verma overcame South Korea’s Jiho Shin 6-3, 7-6(5) while

Results: Boys singles (1st round): Akanit Pumjit (THA) bt Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli (Ind) 6-4 6-2; H O Denton(HKG) bt Prasanna Bagade (Ind)6-0 6-3; Kasidit Samrej (THA) bt Rishabh Sharda (Ind) 6-2 2-6 6-3; Megh Bhargav Patel (Ind) bt M.U. Tao (CHN) 2-6 6-4 6-4 Girls singles (1st round): Sakura Hosogi (JPN) bt Yubrani Banerjee (Ind) 6-1, 6-1; Kuan Yi Lee (TPE) bt Muskan Gupta (Ind) 6-3, 6-3; Tanisha Kashyap (Ind) bt Shrivalli Rashmika Bhamidipaty (Ind) 7-5, 6-2; Adithya Karunaratne (SRI) bt Tejasvi Kate (Ind) 6-1, 6-2; Vaidehi Chaudhari (Ind) bt Ayu Sugiyama (JPN) 6-0, 6-0; Rhea Verma (Ind) bt Jiho Shin (KOR) 6-3, 7-6(5); Akanksha Bhan (Ind) bt Xiaoxi Zhao (CHN) 7-6(4), 6-4, Rhea Verma (Ind) bt Jiho Shin (KOR) 6-3, 7-6(5)

Akanksha Bhan