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Nitin Kumar Sinha produced an upset against eighth seed Raghav Jaisinghani, while young sensation Maaya Revathi beat Humera Baharamus to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing 29th Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship in their respective categories at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Thursday.
Ranked 38 in the country, Nitin of West Bengal carried forward his momentum from the last match in the men's singles category and registered a win by 6-3, 6-4 in straight sets against Madhya Pradesh's Raghav to reach the last four where he will face top seed Vishnu Vardhan of Telangana. The multiple Asian Games medallist and former Davis Cupper also continued his positive momentum to get the better of Manipur's Haobam 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets. In the women's singles category, the 15-year-old Maaya of Tamil Nadu looked comfortable on the court against her opponent from Telangana initially. She gained a quick lead in the first set before clinching it by 6-2 with a strong forehand. The second set saw a tough battle between both the players and went into a tie-breaker where Maaya held her nerve to win the set 7-6 (2) and reach the semis. She will now face second seed Delhi's Riya Bhatia, who beat Yubrani Banerjee (RSPB) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5) in a three-set thriller to move into the last four of the prestigious tournament. Former national champion Vaidehee Chaudhari of Gujarat registered a 6-1, 6-2 win in the quarter-finals, while Maharashtra's Pooja Ingale upset third seed Akanksha Nitture 6-4, 6-2 in straight sets. In the boys' u-18 category, Manipur's Shanker Heisnam beat Delhi's Aashravya Mehra in a thrilling quarter-final match by 7-6(2), 6-7(8), 6-0. On the other hand, Sejal Bhutada of Maharashtra stormed into the semis of the girls' u-18 category with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Aakruti Sonkusare. Besides the prestigious titles, the winners will be awarded 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 Rs 25,000 each. The Boys and Girls Under-16 & Under-14 category qualifying and main draw matches will be played from October 5 to October 12. (ANI)
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