Vishnu Vardhan, Rawat post wins in ATP Challenger

Five Indian players, including Olympian Vishnu Vardhan today made it to the final qualifying round of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tournament here.
The fourth-seeded Vishnu Vardhan, ranked 512 currently, made short work of compatriot Ramakrishnan Rangaraju 6-3, 6-0.
He will meet fifth-seed Sidharth Rawat for a spot in the main draw. Rawat routed fellow Indian Shahbaaz Khan conceding only three games.
Little-known local lad Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam sprung a surprise, beating American Tyler Hochwalt first and then getting the better of eighth-seeded Aryan Goveas 7-6, 4-1 (retired).
Shanmugam will meet Nikola Cacic of Serbia for a place in the main draw.

Top seed in the qualifying Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul of Thailand, got past local player Gokul Suresh 6-2, 6-4.

Haadin Salim Bava, the seventh-seed, ousted national champion Dalwinder Singh 6-0, 7-6(5).
Yuki Bhambri, who will be the second-seed in the main draw, and other Indians including Sumit Nagal, Prajnesh Guneswaran, Saketh Myneni and Sasikumar Mukund, had an intense practice session.
Results - Qualifying Singles (First Round) (Indians unless specified): Suraj Prabodh bt Anurag Nenwani 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4; Abhinav Shanmugam bt Tyler Hochwalt (USA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Luca Margaroli (SUI) bt Jayesh Pungliya 6-2, 6-4; Adil Kalyanpur bt V M Sandeep 6-4, 6-0.

Second Round: Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (THA-X1) bt Gokul Suresh 6-2, 6-4; Nikola Cacic (SRB-X2) bt Suraj Prabodh 6-3, 7-5; Luca Margaroli (SUI) bt Ulises Blanch (USA-X3) 0-1 (retired); Vishnu Vardhan bt Ramakrishnan Rangaraju 6-3, 6-0.
Siddharth Rawat (X5) bt Shahbaaz Khan 6-1, 6-2; Arjun Kadhe (X6) bt Adil Kalyanpur 6-3, 6-1; Haadin Salim Bava (X7) bt Dalwinder Singh 6-0, 7-6(5); Abhinav Shanmugam bt Aryan Goveas (X8) 7-6(4), 4-1 (retired).