Manish Suresh Kumar enters semifinal to keep Indian hopes alive

National champion Manish Suresh Kumar kept Indian hopes alive by entering the semifinal with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Aditya Balsekar at Jubilee Hills International Centre. He will face USA’s Keshav Chopra, while doubles will see an all-Indian final

Hyderabad: National champion Manish Suresh Kumar kept Indian hopes alive, making it to the semifinal with a 7-5, 6-2 win against qualifier Aditya Balsekar at Jubilee Hills International Centre here on Friday.

The 26-year-old Manish served well and executed some fine strokes to get past the giant killer Aditya, who had earlier knocked out Lee Duckhee in the first round.

---

In the semifinals, Manish will play Keshav Chopra of USA, who was swift on his feet and brisk with his strokes in outplaying Amit Vales of Israel for the loss of six games.

In the bottom half of the draw, the Indian challenge fizzled out as second seed Sasikumar Mukund and Olympian Vishnu Vardhan were unable to match up against fifth seed Timofei Derepasko and fourth seed Pawit Sornlaksup respectively.

However, there was an assurance of Indian champions in doubles, as it will be an all-Indian affair. Hyderabad boys Vishnu Vardhan and Ganta Sai Karteek Reddy will play Ishaque Eqbal and Dev Javia in the doubles final.

The results:
Singles: Quarterfinals: Manish Suresh Kumar (IND) bt Aditya Balsekar (IND) 7-5, 6-2; Timofei Derepasko bt Sasikumar Mukund 6-2, 7-5; Keshav Chopra (USA) bt Amit Vales (ISR) 6-3, 6-3; Pawit Sornlaksup (THA) bt Vishnu Vardhan (IND) 6-4, 6-0.

Doubles: Semifinals: G Sai Karteek Reddy (IND) / Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Aditya Balsekar (IND) & Atharva Sharma (IND) 5-7, 7-6(2), 10-8; Ishaque Eqbal (IND) & Dev Javia (IND) bt M Rifiq Fitriadi (INA) & Seonyong Han (KOR) 7-6(2), 3-6, 10-2.