Bengaluru, Nov 22 (IANS): Akarsh Gaonkar, seeded second, struggled past challenger Yash P to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) Champions Series7 U-18 Championship here on Monday. Akarsh, who had to go through the qualifying grind owing to his late entry, was cruising well at 4-0 before his opponent staged a fightback and even came close to upsetting the fancied player. However, Akarsh held on to his nerve to win the match 9-7 in a truncated format owing to the threat of the rains.

Fifth seed Kriish Ajay Tyagi, fresh from a victory in the U-16 National Series Championship in Hyderabad, and third seed Mandeep Reddy cruised through their opening rounds. While Kriish inflicted a 9-1 victory over Viraaj, Mandeep was a 9-2 winner over Raheya N.

Top seed Adith Amarnath of Karnataka defeated G Gandharav 9-6 while eighth seed Jay Prakash too advanced, beating Leathaeesh K 9-5. Shushank BS, the fourth seed, beat Nikhil S 9-0.

In the girls' singles, third seed Sreenidhi B defeated Mukta P 9-2 and so did fifth seed Presha S who got the better of Vanya Srivastav 9-5.

Results (Round-1):

Boys' U-18: 1-Adith Amarnath bt Gandharav G 9-6; Sehaj Singh bt Sriniketh K 9-3; Ved Shetty bt Vedansh 9-5; 8-Jay Prakash bt Leathaeesh K 9-5; 4-Shushank BS bt Nikhil S 9-0; Arjun P bt Sooraj VJ 9-5; Jaishnu K bt Daiwik Shetty 9-3; 6-Suchir Chetan bt Eshan M 9-1; 5-Kriish Ajay Tyagi bt Viraaj J 9-1; Mahalingam AK bt Vishnu B 9-4; Kirill bt Ananth Krishnan 9-7; 3-Mandeep Reddy bt Raheya N 9-2; Manav H bt Aman Rao 9-4; Adithya Arora bt Arush Koti 9-4; 2-Akarsh Gaonkar bt Yash P 9-7.

Girls' U-18: Hridayeshi bt Binitha Rakesh 9-3; Sanskriti bt Inchara H 9-3; 8-Nidi Buvila bt Gayashree 9-1; 3-Sreenidhi B bt Mukta P 9-2; Dharani bt Avaai 9-6; Kashish K bt Purvi B 9-0; Sathivika C bt Krithika G 9-5; 5-Presha S bt Vanya Srivastav 9-5; Yazhini bt 6-Athmika C S 9-7; Mahika Reddy bt Manaswini 9-1; Hriti Ahuja bt Anuskha G 9-5; 4-Siri Manjunath Patil bt Vanshika B 9-0; Umam Ahmad bt Siri Gowda 9-1.