19-Oct-2009 128
Spirited Bhubaneswar youth Chinmaya Pradhan today became the first tennis player from Orissa in two years to enter the singles main draw of an AITA men’s ranking tournament. A trainee of Gurukul Tennis Academy, Pradhan achieved the feat when he beat Shivam Burma (UP) 6-4, 6-0 in third round qualifying match at Patna.
In the first round of the main draw, he would meet the same opponent, who also qualified as a lucky loser. Pradhan earlier received a bye in the qualifying first round and then defeated Kush Yadav (UP) 8-5 in the second round. This would be third men’s tournament for Pradhan, who earlier played at Chandigarh and Delhi.
Pradhan would compete in the doubles main draw with Dev Priya Jaiswal (Bihar) as his partner. The duo have been given a wild card.
