Pune, Mar 7 (PTI) Unseeded Suresh Dakshineshwar of Tamil Nadu toppled top-seeded Suraj Prabodh of Karnataka in two straight sets to enter the men's singles semi-finals of the Dhoot Transmission Poona Club Trophy AITA men's and women's open tennis championships here on Thursday.

Dakshineshwar won 6-4, 7-5 and will meet lucky loser Anvit Bendre, a local player, in the semis following the latter's come-from-behind victory over state rival Shahbaaz Khan at the Poona Club's courts.

Bendre continued his splendid run in the tournament to oust Khan 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to set up a meeting with Dakshineshwar.

In the lower half of the draw, another local boy - third seed Dhruv Sunish - quelled the challenge of fifth- seeded Delhi player Anurag Nenwani, winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to enter the last four.

Sunish will now take on another Delhi player, the second-seeded Kunal Anand, who out-rallied local boy Sahil Gaware 6-4, 6-3 in another quarter-final match.

In the women's section, top-seeded Vaidehi Chaudari of Gujarat made short work of sixth-seeded Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi of Telangana, clinching a 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final win.

Vaidehi will now take on seventh-seeded 7 Nidhi Chilumula, also of Telangana, who scored an easy 6-0, 6-2 win over Maharashtra's Akanksha Nitture in another quarter-final, for a place in the final.

In the lower half, fourth-seeded Soha Sadiq of Andhra Pradesh staved off the challenge from local girl Tejasvi Kate with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Soha earned a shot at second-seeded Nithyaraj Baburaj of Tamil Nadu, who ended the challenge of Uttar Pradesh's no. 8 seed, Vanshika Choudhary, 6-3, 6-4 in the semis.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)