Blancaneaux eases past second seed Walton
Geoffrey Blancaneaux of France outplayed the second seed Adam Walton of Australia 63, 60 in the prequarterfinals of the Dafa News $82,000 Delhi Open Challenger tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Thursday.
Walton struggled to find his rhythm right through the match. In contrast, Blancaneaux who had lost in the first round of the Bengaluru and Pune Challenger events over the last fortnight, thrived in the conditions, with strong serves and fluent strokes.
In the quarterfinals, Blancaneaux will play qualifier Philip Sekulic of Australia.
In doubles, second seeds Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan fought back against Constantin Kouzmine and Maxime Janvier, but the Frenchmen handled the climax nicely for a 76(4), 67(4), [106] victory in the quarterfinals.
The Indian pair led 42
Blancaneaux thrived in the conditions, with strong serves and fluent strokes against Walton.
in the super tiebreak, but after being on par at 55, the French pulled away with a better game.
The other Indian pair of Nitin Kumar Sinha and Manish Sureshkumar lost 64, 64 to Germans Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner, who had knocked out the top seeds Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan earlier.
The results:
Pre-quarterfinals: Tristan Boyer (USA) bt Dane Sweeny (Aus) 75, 63; Dalibor Svrcina (Cze) bt
Samuel Ruggeri (Ita) 75, 62; Philip Sekulic (Aus) bt Evgeny Donskoy 63, 62; Geoffrey Blancaneaux (Fra) bt Adam Walton (Aus) 63, 60.
Doubles: Quarterfinals: Jakob Schnaitter & Mark Wallner (Ger) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha & Manish Sureshkumar 64, 64; Ray Ho (Tpe) & Calum Puttergill (Aus) bt Toshihide Matsui & Kaito Uesugi (Jpn) 64, 63; Piotr Matuszewski (Pol) & Matthew Romios (Aus) bt M Rifki Fitriadi (Ina) & Ryuki Matsuda (Jpn) 64, 75; Constantin Kouzmine & Maxime Janvier (Fra) bt Arjun Kadhe & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 76(4), 67(4), [106].
Puneri Paltan and Haryana Steelers, boasting the best defences in Pro Kabaddi League season 10, will clash for the title here at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium on Friday.
Led by coach B.C. Ramesh and allrounder Aslam Inamdar, Paltan enter as favourites due to their dominant season and aggressive style. Featuring raiders like Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Pankaj Mohite and Akash Shinde, the Puneri team will aim to lift its firstever title. However, their true weapon is their innovative, teamoriented defence, marshalled by Iranian leftcorner Mohammadreza Chiyaneh.
On the contrary, the Steelers reached their firstever final through sheer determination. Coach Manpreet Singh’s team also boasts a strong defensive unit, led by Jaideep Dahiya, Mohit Nandal, and Rahul Sethpal. Vinay and Shivam Patare have emerged as key raiders.
This final promises a thriller where both teams will use strategic brilliance and defensive prowess to rewrite history and claim their first PKL title.