NEW DELHI, February 9: Delhi University's Shalini Thakur, despite giving up serious tennis almost a year ago, showed glimpses of her old form beating Mumbai University's Reetu Sethi 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 and setting up a 1-0 lead for the hosts in the quarters of the All India Inter-University tennis tournament at the Hindu College courts here on Monday.But Delhi varsity, without a good enough second player, could not cash in on that lead and went down 1-2 in what was the most competitive tie so far in the championship.
On the adjacent court, Mumbai's Priyanka Contractor took just over an hour to dispose off Radhika 6-3, 6-1 and level the tie.
And, in what was a foregone conclusion, Jahnavi Parekh and Aparna Srinivasan used the doubles as a good workout for their tough semi-final clash against Madras University on Tuesday. Jahnavi and Aparna beat Shalini Thakur and Swati Rao 6-1, 6-3.
In the bottom half, Bangalore University took the easy route to a semi-final date with Punjab University (Chandigarh) with a2-0 win against Pune.
While Tara Kanbarginath beat Shweta Oke 6-3, 6-0, Archana Venkatraman whitewashed Meghana Wakankar 6-0, 6-0.
Tuesday's Mumbai - Madras semi-final promises to be rivetting, especially with a possible Sai Jayalakshmi - Jahnavi Parikh clash on the cards. Both are ex-DHAITA trainees and Jahnavi will be looking to avenge her recent Calcutta loss to Sai.
In any case, the tie will provide the best tennis seen in the last week. The other tie is more predictable, with Bangalore clear favourites against the relatively inexperienced Chandigarh.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
