Jain, Solanki, Cheruku keep Indian challenge alive

Only three Indians were left in the fray in singles after the quarterfinals of the BIPL Sports MSLTA ITF Grade 3 Junior tennis championships today.
Vashist Cheruku and Alex Solanki, in the boys' section, and second-seeded girl Mahak Jain remained on course to reach the final while all others got knocked out at the MSLTA School of Tennis in Mhalunge Balewadi here.
Mahak outclassed Kazakh girl Milana Lysova 6-1 6-0 to earn a meeting in the semis against eighth-seeded Marta Oliveira of Portugal, who packed off fourth-seeded Indian rival Akanksha Bhan 6-2 4-6 6-1 in another quarter final tie.
Top seed Georgina Axon of Britain defeated sixth seed Kristina Novak of Slovakia 6-2 6-4 to enter the semis where she would take on fifth seed Sing-Le Fan Chiang of Taipei who drubbed local girl Shivani Ingle 6-0 6-0.

Top seed Robert Wrzesinski of Lithuania proved too strong for local lad Siddhant Banthia, outplaying him 6-2 6-2 in the boys' quarter final.
The Lithuanian would clash with British fourth seed Finn Bass for a place in the final. Bass ousted no. 8 seed Charles Roberts of Thailand 7-5 6-2 in another quarter final match.

The other semifinal would be an all-India clash between 16-year-old Delhi schoolboy Alex Solanki, the seventh seed, and Cheruku.
Solanki ended the run of Udayan Bhakar 6-4 2-6 6-2 while Cheruku stopped Aditya Vashist 6-4 6-4.
Cheruku also remained the lone Indian in fray in the doubles. He and his Thai partner Vorachon Rakpuangchon rallied their way past the Indian pair of Rian Pandole and Alex Solanki 4-6 6-0 10-7 in a close encounter.

Tomorrow the Indo-Thai pair would meet Finn Bass and Charles Roberts, who scored a 6-2 7-5 win over India's Siddhant Banthia and Anirudh Chandrasekar, in the final.
In the girls' doubles, scratch pair of Anna Solovyeva and Nika Zupancic upset top seeds Mahak Jain and Kristina Novak 6-3 6-0 to set up a summit clash with second seeds Georgina Axon and Marta Oliveira, who got past Milana Lysova and Snehal Mane 6-4 6-1.