MANDYA, January 12, 2024 (Press Release)

Karan Singh scripted the biggest upset of the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 hard-court tournament when he showed the top seed Kris Van Wyk of South Africa the door to enter the semifinals of the PET ITF Mandya Open. In the first quarterfinal played at the PET Stadium on Friday, the 20-year-old won in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to set-up a last-four clash with Jelle Sels of the Netherlands. Sels quelled the challenge of his country mate Thijmen Loof 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4 in the longest match of the day that lasted a little over two hours.

Following Singh’s footsteps was Siddharth Vishwakarma who also registered an upset victory over fifth seed Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. The lanky Indian will meet third seed Orel Kimhi in the other semifinal. The Israeli stopped the dream run of Madhwin Kamath with a 7-6 (5), 6-0 win.

Meanwhile, Singh and his Korean partner Woobin Shin upset the third-seeded pair of Tsung-Hao Huang of Taipei and Kris Van Wyk with a scoreline of 1-6, 6-3, 10-7 to enter the finals of the doubles event. Singh and Shin will meet the fourth seeded all Indian pair of Parikshit Somani and Manish Sureshkumar who breezed past the top seeded duo of Grigoriy Lomakin of Khazakstan and Austrian David Pichler 6-3, 6-2.

Results

Singles (Quarterfinals)

Karan Singh bt 1-Kris Van Wyk (RSA) 6-3, 6-3; 3-Orel Kimhi (ISR) bt Q-Madhwin Kamath 7-6 (5), 6-0; Siddharth Vishwakarma bt 5-Nam Hoang Ly (VIE) 6-1, 6-4; Jelle Sels (NED) bt Q-Thijmen Loof (NED) 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4;

Semifinal line-up:
Karan Singh Vs. Jelle Sels (NED) 10 a.m.
Siddharth Vishwakarma Vs. 3-Orel Kimhi (ISR) 11 a.m.

Doubles (Semifinals)

Woobin Shin (KOR)/Karan Singh bt 3-Tsung-Hao Huang (TPE)/Kris Van Wyk (RSA) 1-6, 6-3, 10-7; 4-Parikshit Somani/Manish Sureshkumar bt 1-Grigoriy Lomakin (KAZ)/David Pichler (AUT) 6-3, 6-2.

Overnight unfinished Quarterfinals

1-Grigoriy Lomakin (KAZ)/David Pichler (AUT) bt Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta/Vishnu Vardhan 6-3, 6-3; 4-Parikshit Somani/Manish Sureshkumar bt M Rifqi Fitriadi (INA)/Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (MAS) 6-4, 6-1; Woobin Shin (KOR)/Karan Singh bt Orel Kimhi (ISR)/Ofek Shimanov (ISR) 6-7 (8), 5-5 (retd).