The top two seeds in the girls singles under-18 category romped into the semi-finals of the ongoing Tata Steel All India Tennis Association (AITA) Championship Series 2021, being held at the DecoTurf courts of the JRD Tata Sports Complex.
Top-seeded Sumeira Jaiswal of Bengal survived a scare in the quarter-finals as she pulled out a close encounter against statemate Kinza Shaikh with a 6-2,7-6 (6) scoreline.
Bengal's second-seeded Rituja Saha, on the other hand, proved to be too good for her opponent as she blanked Amrusha Sanyal, also from Bengal, by a convincing 6-0,6-0 score.
Swati Verma from Jharkhand failed to live up to the expectations as she went down to Bengal's Tanisha Roy 2-6,3-6.
In the boys singles under-18 section, unseeded Steven Ankit Ekka and Vaibhav Singh entered the semi-finals.
Ekka of Odisha got the better of Bengal's Divyansh Prahladka whereas Bihar's Vaibhav Singh ousted sixth seed Ethan Thai Shing Lee of Bengal.
Archery
Tata Archery Academy cadets Komalika Bari and Ankita Bhakat, along with an eight-member Indian recurve team, left for Dhaka on Wednesday to take part in the Asian Archery Championship beginning on Thursday. Other members in the national women's side include Ridhi and Madhu Vedwan. Tata cradle coach Purnima Mahto is accompanying the women's outfit as a coach. The men's recurve outfit include Kapil, Parth Sushant Salunkhe, Sukchain Singh and Pravin Ramesh Jadhav. Indian compound (men and women) is also participating in the Asian Meet.
Roll Ball
The Jharkhand Roll Ball Association on Wednesday announced a 23-member (boys and girls) state squad for the inaugural East Zone Championship to be held in Bhilai (Chattisgarh) from November 12 to 14. Most of the selected players in the squad are from Tata Steel Roll Ball Training Centre.
