Behl, Lakhani cause upsets

Tenth seed Rishi Behl and 11th seed Isha Lakhani caused major upsets in boys and girls' singles respectively to move into the quarter-finals of the ITF Junior circuit (Grade-4) tennis tournament in Bombay on Wednesday.

In the pre-quarter-finals, Behl rallied magnificently after dropping the first set to pip sixth seed Al Imron of Indonesia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours 35 minutes while Lakhani, playing the serve and volley game to perfection, subdued fifth seed and compatriot Sasha Abraham 6-3, 6-2 in 40 minutes.

Seventh seed Sratha Saengsuwarn of Thailand was given a scare by unseeded Indian Sharan Divij before managing to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour 50 minutes.

In other boys' pre-quarter-final matches, giant-killer Dominic Stoecwer of Switzerland, who had accounted for top seed Amanjot Singh on Tuesday, sent 15th seed K Somdev Varman of India packing with a 6-4, 6-3 scoreline in just 55 minutes while third seed Anuwate Daldom of Indonesia took 40 minutes to sideline unseeded Indian Vikas Punna 6-3, 6-2.

In the girls' section, Kartiki Bhat of India, who had ousted top seed Megha Vakharia on Tuesday, defeated 13th seeded Sanaa Bambri 7-5, 6-4 in one hour 25 minutes.

Second seed Pichaya Laosirichon of Thailand, third seed Rebecca Danderian of England, fourth seed Diada Julianto and sixth seed Maya Rosa (both from Indonesia), seventh seed Lata Assudani and eight seed Nandita Chandrasekar (both Indians) also sailed into the quarters.