CHANDIGARH, Feb 7: Kedar Shah, Sangram Chapekar, Kaptan Karsolia and Chandersekhar Mohanty, all from India, have qualified for the main draw in the boys section of the ITF World Ranking Junior (under-18) Tournament which begins on February 9.In the final qualifying rounds Kedar beat Vivian Chettri 7-5, 6-0, Sangram Chapekar ousted AR Anand Kumar 6-4, 6-3, Kaptan Karsolia eliminated Sukhamrit Lakhat 6-4, 6-3 and Chandersekhar Mohanty struggled to down Akshay Jagdale 6-1, 5-7, 6-4. The winners' opponents were also Indians.
Saurav Singh, Amanjot Singh, Saif Ali and Gurmehar Singh have been given wild cards. Saurav and Amanjot are the trainees of Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association. Both getting the wild cards, the number of Chandigarh boys figuring in the main draw has gone to five. On the basis of their AITA points Akshay Vishal Rao, Sunil Kumar and Sarbarinder Singh got their berths in the main draw.
Meanwhile, more than 100 boys and girls from India, Austria, Uzbekistan, Kazakistan, Kirghizstan,Thailland and Sri Lanka are staking their claims for the top honours and vital points.
CLTA chief coach Kawaljeet Singh was confident that Akshay Vishal Rao and Sunil Kumar would give good peformance. Both of them are likely to enter the quarter-final. With a bit of luck these CLTA trainees can enter semifinals and final. AITA supervisor Dushan Deo said that the seedings would be announced tomorrow.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
