ITF Juniors: Eqbal, Sawhney storm into quarter finals

Local boy Ishaque Eqbal stunned 4th seeded B.R. Nikshep to enter the quarter finals of the Boys Singles Under 18 of the ITF Juniors here Wednesday.

Eqbal rallied long in almost every point to take a quick 2-0 lead in the opening set. He then seemed to have lost rhythm for a while as he dropped three consecutive games, taking the score to 2-3. He, however, came back to win the next three games and ultimately clinched the opening set 6-4 at the Dakshin Kalikata Sansad sports complex.

Eqbal then had an easy second set which he won 6-2 and thus sealed the match with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-2.

He will face Yugal Bansal in the quarter finals Thursday.

Unseeded Vanshika Sawhney continued her brilliant form on court as she overpowered China's Zhouma Ni Ma by a straight 6-3, 6-2 in the Girls Singles Under 18 pre-quarter finals.

She will face 6th seeded Y. Jittakoat of Thailand in the quarter finals Thursday.

Today's match scores (IND, if not specified):

Boys Singles Under 18 (pre quarter finals)

Aryan Goveas (1) bt Yun Ruei Wen (TPE) 6-1, 6-2
Siddhant Banthia bt Rana Roop Singh Bhullar (NOR)(6) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
Ishaque Eqbal bt B.R. Nikshep 6-4, 6-2
Yugal Bansal bt Mayukh Rawat 6-2, 6-4
Dhruv Sunish bt Udayan Bhakar (7) 6-1, 6-4
Cing Yang Meng (TPE)(3) bt P.V Gnana Bhaskar 6-2, 6-1
Kaya Gore (TUR)(8) Cheng Chieh Wang (TPE) 6-1, 6-4
Alex Solanki (2) bt Parikshit Somani 7-6(8), 6-2

Girls Singles Under 18 (pre quarter finals)

Karman Kaur Thandi (1) bt Qianhui Tang (CHN) 6-3, 7-5
Mahak Jain bt Yang Lee (TPE)(7) 6-4, 6-3
R. Janse Van Rensburg (RSA)(4) bt Yubarani Banerjee 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3
Yu Pei Lee (TPE) bt YeXin Ma (CHN) 6-3, 6-4
Fang Hsien Wu (TPE)(8) bt Mushouna 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Zeel Desai (3) bt En Shuo Liang (TPE) 7-5, 6-3
Y. Jittakoat (THA)(6) Nidhi Surapaneni 6-1, 6-3
Vanshika Sawhney bt Zhuoma Ni Ma (CHN) 6-3, 6-2