While Kadhe and Balaji will now face Indonesia’s Christopher Rungkat Cheng – peng of Taiwan in the semis
India’s Arjun Kadhe and N Sriram Balaji impressed at the Bangkok Challenger after qualifying for the men’s doubles semi-finals on Thursday. The duo registered a comfortable 4-6, 7-5, [10-3] win over Toshihide Matsui of Japan and Harri Heliovaara of Finland.
ARJUN/BALA THROUGH TO SF OF BANGKOK CHALLENGER @ArjunKadhe and Balaji
won 4-6 7-5 10-3 against Heliovaara/Matsui.They will take on top seeds Hsieh/Rungkat in the SF, who had beaten Rohan/Divij at ATP 250 Sofia event last week
Credits – Armchittipon/Sports Society Thailand pic.twitter.com/VZhoBrTLke
— Indian Tennis Daily (@IndiantennisFan) February 14, 2019
The Indian pair received competition in the first set of the contest, losing 4-6. But they made a fair comeback in the second set of the quarter-final in what was a fiercely contested duel. In the end, it was Kadhe and Balaji who emerged victorious by 7-5.
The victory means that Kadhe and Balaji will now face top seeds Hsieh Cheng-peng of Taiwan and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia in the competition’s semi-finals.
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The latter pair defeated Francis Alcantara of Philippines and Bernardo Saraiva of Portugal 6-3, 7-6 in their quarter-final match.
The Indian duo had an easy the first round, in which they outplayed Sanchai and Ratiwatana 6-1, 6-3.
India’s singles campaign in the tournament met with a disappointing end after top-seeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Saketh Myneni, and Sasi Kumar Mukund lost in the first round.
It was USA’s unseeded JC Aragone who stunned India No.1 Prajnesh Gunneswaran in straight sets in the first round.
The Indian, who recently made news after breaking into the ATP top-100, went down in sets of 3-6, 1-6.
Fellow compatriot, Sasi Kumar Mukund, also lost in straight sets of 1-6, 1-6 at the hands of South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo in the first round as well.
Final Results
$54,160 Challenger, Bangkok, Thailand Doubles (quarterfinals)
Sriram Balaji-Arjun Kadhe (India) 2-1 Harri Heliovaara (Fin) & Toshihide Matsui (Jpn) | 4-6, 7-5, [10-3].
$15,000 ITF men, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Doubles (quarterfinals)
Oleg Khotkov – Olexiy Kolisnyk (Ukr) 2-0 Rishab Agarwal – Aryan Goveas 6-4, 6-3.
$15,000 ITF women, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Singles (pre-quarterfinals)
Anna Morgina 2-1 Zeel Desai | 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
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