Bhubaneswar: Indian players once again showcased their potential, with a stunning upset by 17-year-old Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar in singles and a strong performance by local favorite Kabir Hans in doubles in the fifth day of the M25 Bhubaneswar ITF World Tennis Tour 2024 at the Kalinga Stadium Tennis Centre on Thursday.
Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar, the young sensation, continued his impressive run, achieving a remarkable victory over No. 4 seed Egor Agafonov. Despite a slow start in the first set, Rethin’s tenacity turned the game around as he claimed the second set and maintained his momentum in the third until Agafonov retired, final score 2-6, 6-4, 4-0. His breakthrough win at the tournament places him among the top young prospects to watch.
S D Prajwal Dev advanced to the quarterfinals, defeating Rohan Mehra in a match that ended prematurely due to Mehra’s retirement. Bogdan Bobrov, Aryan Shah, and No. 1 seed Dalibor Svrcina also secured their spots in the next round with straightforward victories.
Local hero Kabir Hans and partner Rishab Agarwal thrilled the crowd with a comeback win against the second-seeded pair of S D Prajwal Dev and Adil Kalyanpur. After narrowly losing the first set in a tiebreak, Hans and Agarwal rallied to claim the next set and ultimately clinched the victory in a tight match tiebreak, 6-7(7), 6-3, [10-6]. Their spirited performance has kept local hopes alive in the doubles category.
Day 5 Results:
Main Draw Singles Round of 16 (2nd Round):
S D Prajwal Dev bt Rohan Mehra 6-4, 3-0 Retired
[3] Bogdan Bobrov bt Yash Chaurasia 6-1, 6-1
[8] Aryan Shah bt Sidharth Rawat 7-5, 6-3
Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar bt [4] Egor Agafonov 2-6, 6-4, 4-0 Retired
[1] Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) bt Manas Dhamne 7-5, 6-3
Dev Javia bt [6] Siddharth Vishwakarma 6-3, 6-1
[5] Karan Singh bt M Rifqi Fitriadi (INA) 6-1, 6-2
[7] Nick Chappell (USA) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-3, 6-4
Main Draw Doubles Quarter Final:
Rishab Agarwal / Kabir Hans bt [2] S D Prajwal Dev / Adil Kalyanpur 6-7(7), 6-3, [10-6]
Egor Agafonov / Bogdan Bobrov bt Raghav Jaisinghania / Bharath Nishok Kumaran 6-3, 7-6(2)
Ishaque Eqbal / Faisal Qamar bt Dev Javia / Sidharth Rawat 7-5, 3-6, [10-8]
[3] Siddhant Banthia / Vishnu Vardhan bt M Rifqi Fitriadi (INA) / Karan Singh 2-0 Retired
