Orissa tennis players shine at Kolkata

Bhubaneswar boys Shakti Ray and Adwithiya Patnaik marched into the semifinals of the AITA Talent Series Tennis Tournament at DKS Club in Kolkata today. City-based Gurukul Tennis Academy (GTA) product Shakti crushed Maka Chaitanay (Andhra Pradesh) 4-0, 4-1 in under-12 boys` quarterfinals, while his GTA-mate Adwithiya overcame Delhi`s Anshum Khandelwal 7-5, 7-5 in under-14 boys` last eight round. However, Orissa girl Avilipsa Rath crashed out with a 1-4, 1-4 defeat against Srijita Ghosh (WB) in an under-12 quarterfinal clash. Earlier on Tuesday, Shakti defeated Anubhav Tirthlal (WB) 3-5, 4-2, 4-1; Adwithiya thrashed Manaraj Zandu (Jharkhand) 4-1, 4-1 and Avilipsa got the better of Aishwarya Kundu (WB) 4-2, 4-2 to reach the quarterfinals.