Vignesh shocks No.2 seed Suraj Prabodh

Tamil Nadu's Vignesh Veerabhadran shocked second-seeded Suraj R Prabodh of Karnataka 7-6(1), 6-2 in the singles pre-quarterfinals of the MCC-SR Subramaniam Memorial AITA men's tennis championship here Wednesday.

Veerabhadran and Prabodh were involved in long rallies in the first set with the latter dominating in the early stages. Errors crept into the No.2 seed's game, allowing the Tamil Nadu player gain an advantage.

In the tiebreak, Prabodh's formidable single-handed backhand fell apart and his rival capitalised to win it easily 7-1.

In the second set, Prabodh committed several errors, sending his groundstrokes long and wide and trailed 0-5.

He won two games, but Veerabhadran held his nerve to close out the match.

In the quarterfinals, Veerabhadran will play state-mate Dhakshineswar Suresh, who came from behind to outlast Rishi Reddy of Karnataka in three sets.

Top-seed Niki K Poonacha of Andhra Pradesh scored a comfortable win over youngster Ajay Malik of Haryana to reach the last eight.

Results: Men's singles (Pre-quarterfinals): Niki K Poonacha S-1 beat Ajay Malik 6-1, 6-4; Dalwinder Singh (S-8) beat Shivam Dalmia (Del) 6-2, 6-1; S D Prajwal Dev (Kar, S-4) beat Gokul Suresh (TN) 6-4, 6-1; V M Ranjeet (S-5) beat Prithvi Sekhar 6-1, 6-2.

Kaza Vinayak Sharma (AP, S-6) beat Nikshep Balleke (Kar) 6-2, 6-0; Nitin Kumar Sinha (WB, S-3) beat Faisal Qamar (Raj) 7-6(5), 6-4; Dhakshineswar Suresh beat Rishi Reddy (Kar) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; Vignesh Veerabhadran beat Suraj R Prabodh (S-2) 7-6(1), 6-2.

Doubles (Quarterfinals): Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Ihsan Hussian beat Nitin Kumar Sinha and Kaza Vinayak Sharma (walkover); Jatin Dahiya and Dhakshineswar Suresh beat Prithvi Sekhar and P C Vignesh 6-2, 6-4; Aramaan Bhatia and Hardeep Singh beat Himansu Mor and Eklavya Singh 6-3, 6-3.