Rohir Rajasekhar shines in Slovak Junior Open

 New Delhi, June 1, 2013: India’s Rohir Rajasekhar, Serbia’s Marko Popovic, Italy’s Luca Marcato and the host nation’s Juraj Zatko were the players to shine as matters commenced in the first stage of the boys’ singles event at the Slovak Junior Open in Senec on the morning of Saturday, according to information received here.

Conversely, the player facing the greatest problems is Serbia’s Valentin Nad Nemedi.

The Serbian suffered a surprise opening match defeat; on the contrary Rohir Rajasekhar, Marko Popovic, Luca Marcato and Juraj Zatko caused upsets, in an event that witnesses 16 groups in the first stage of proceedings with the top eight seeds not being required to compete in the initial stage.

Top eight seeds
David Reitspies (Czech Republic), Vitor Ishiy (Brazil), Tomislav Pucar (Croatia), Filip Zeljko (Croatia). Alessandro Baciocchi (Italy), Jakub Seibert (Czech Republic), Qiu Lang (Germany) and Sudhanshu Grover (India) all receive direct entries to the second stage.

First and Second Qualify for Main Draw
Players finishing in first and second places in each group join the top eight seeds in the main draw.

Stole the Show
Undoubtedly Rohit Rajasekhar, a silver medallist one day earlier in the Boys’ Team event but currently with no World ranking, was the young man to steal the show.

The player to experience the most pain was Serbia’s Valentin Nad Nemedi.

Rohit Rajasekhar accounted for Denmark’s Patrick Stobberup, who stands at no.339 on the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings (11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 11-8), before overcoming the Czech Republic’s Martin Koblizek (11-6, 11-8, 11-5).

A player in form
Furthermore, Martin Koblizek was a player in form.

Listed at no.357 on the junior global list, the 16 year old had beaten Serbia’s Valentin Nad Nemedi in his opening duel (10-12, 11-4, 11-6, 15-17, 11-7). Currently 18 year old Valentin Nad Nemedi is listed at no.137 on the Junior World Rankings.

However, after the initial defeat, the Serbian did redeem himself; he overcame Patrick Stobberup in five games (11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8).

Two matches remain in the group with the key contest undoubtedly being the duel between Valentin Nad Nemedi and Rohit Rajasekhar.

Also impressive
An outstanding display by Rohit Rajasekhar, Marco Popovic, Luca Marcato and Juraj Zatko were not far behind in the impressive stakes.

Marco Popovic overcame India’s Abhishek Yadav in his opening encounter (15-13, 5-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7), before accounting for the host nation’s Matus Diko (11-9, 11-6, 11-6).

The win over the latter was as expected, Matus Diko stands at no.759 on the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings; 16 year old Marco Popovic is at no.370.

Redemption
On the other hand, the success against Abhishek Yadav, also 16 years old, was not to be anticipated; he is listed at no.151 on the junior list.

Defeat for Abhishek Yadav in his opening encounter but on his second visit to the table he redeemed himself. He beat Italy’s Jordy Piccolin in three straight games (11-9, 11-6, 11-6); Jordy Piccolin is named at no.292 on the Under Boys’ World Rankings.

Similar Good Starts
A good start for Marco Popovic and it was the same for Luca Marcato and Juraj Zatko.

Luca Marcato beat the Slovak Republic’s Alexander Valuch (11-13, 9-11, 11-6, 15-13, 11-6), Juraj Zatko overcame Denmark’s Ruben Jensen (15-13, 11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9).

Presently on the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings, Luca Marcato is at no.388, Alexander Valuch at 162; both are 17 years old. Meanwhile, Juraj Zatko is at 423, Ruben Jensen, likewise 18 years old, is at no.157.

Seeds record opening match wins
Surprises as matters commenced in the Boys’ Singles event in Senec but no upsets as proceedings began in the counterpart Girls’ Singles competition, an event that sees all entrants in action in the group stage.

Fourth seed tested
The only player amongst the leading names to experience any difficulties in her opening contest was Poland’s Sandra Wabik, the no.4 seed and listed at no.51 on the Under 18 Girls’ World Rankings.

She needed the full five games to defeat the Czech Republic’s Veronika Kmetova (11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 4-11, 11-7). The 16 year old Czech Republic player stands at no.296 on the global junior rankings.

Otherwise, there were no heartaches for the leading names in the Girls’ Singles event on the penultimate morning of play.

Successful starts
Brazil’s Caroline Kumahara, India’s Manika Batra and Laura Pfeffer of France, the respective top three seeds progressed unhindered as did Serbia’s Aneta Maksuti, the no.5 seed and Poland’s Natalia Bajor, the no.6 seed.

Similarly for the next two in the pecking order there were no great travails; India’s Sutirha Mukherjee and Serbia’s Anna Fenyvesi made successful starts to their campaigns.

A TTFI Press release