Yuki Bhambri hits dead end at DSCL Nationals

Teenager Yuki Bhambri's giant killing run at the DSCL Open National Tennis Championship came to an end in the semifinals on Thursday - he hit a dead end named Ashutosh Singh.

Singh, seeded second in New Delhi, ousted the prodigy in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Bhambri could show none of the promise he displayed while dispatching fourth seed Vivek Shokeen and sixth seed Tushar Liberhan in previous rounds.

The focus now shifts to another teenager Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who at 17 is two years elder to Yuki. The unseeded Gunneswaran prevailed in a hard-fought 6-3,4-6,6-4 victory over eighth seed Navdeep Singh in the other semifinal.

Gunneswaran kept himself in contention for a double crown by also reaching the boys' singles final, while Kelsey Sundaram was crowned the girls singles champion.

In the women's singles, the top two seeds will fight it out in the final - romping home in straight sets in the semifinals. Yuki's sibling Sanaa Bhambri was crushed by Isha Lakhani while Rushmi Chakravarthi accounted for Sonal Phadke.

Lakhani and Chakravarthi also teamed up to win the doubles title, beating - surprise, surprise - Bhambri and Phadke.

DSCL OPEN NATIONALS - SEMIFINALS

MEN

Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat (8) Navdeep Singh 6-3, 4-6,6-4
(2) Ashutosh Singh beat Yuki Bhambri 6-2,6-3

WOMEN

(1) Isha Lakhani beat (3) Sanaa Bhambri 6-2,6-2
(2) Rushmi Chakravarthi beat (4) Sonal Phadke 6-4,6-1

UNDER 18 BOYS

(1) Vijayant Malik beat (6) Ronak Manuja 6-0,6-3
(2) Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat (3) Abhijeet Tiwari 6-3,6-2

UNDER 18 GIRLS FINAL

(9) Kelsey Sundaram beat (8) Tanvi Shah 6-4,3-6,6-3

MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL

(3) Vinod Sridhar/Vishnu Vardhan beat (1) Vivek Shokeen/Ashutosh Singh 6-4,3-6,11-9

WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL

(1) Isha Lakhani/Rushmi Chakravarthi beat (3) Sanaa Bhambri/Sonal Phadke 7-5,6-1