Vijay Sundar Prashant saved a match point and unleashed a crisp volley to beat Olympian Vishnu Vardhan 5-4(6) to fetch a one-point lead for Stag Babolat Yoddhas, that proved decisive in the team’s 25-24 victory over DMG Crusaders in the Centena Pro Tennis League at the RK Khanna Stadium here on Wednesday.
Vijay had done well to sustain the momentum for his team after Nishant Dabas and Vanshika Chaudhary had brought the teams on par in the second rubber.
Later, Ishaque beat Karan 5-2 to gain a precious advantage for Yoddhas.
The cushion of three games proved hard to bridge for Crusaders, though it won the last rubber 5-3 through Rishi Kapur and Kashish Bhatia.
The slender win pushed Yoddhas to the second spot in group-B in the race for the semifinals, behind Bangalore Challengers which was well served by Aman Dahiya, Sai Samhitha, Niki Poonacha and Dilip Mohanty who won five of the six matches for the team for a thumping 28-14 win over Team Radiant.
In the other group, Indian Aviators was leading and Sapphire Superstars was second, slightly ahead of Sankara, in the qualification race.
The results: Bangalore Challengers bt Team Radiant 28-14 [Aman Dahiya lost to Parv Nage 3-5; Aman & Sai Samhitha bt Parv & Prerna Bhambri 5-1; Niki Poonacha bt Saketh Myneni 5-2; Niki & Paras Dahiya bt Saketh & Suraj Prabodh 5-4(5); Paras Dahiya bt Suraj Prabodh 5-2; Dilip Mohanty & Sai bt Arjun Uppal & Prerna 5-0].
Indian Aviators bt Pro Veri Supersmashers 23-21 [Ajay Malik bt Aditya Nandal 5-2; Ajay & Diva Bhatia bt Aditya & Mahika Khanna 5-0; Sriram Balaji lost to Ramkumar Ramanathan 4-5 (5); Balaji & Siddhant Banthia bt Ramkumar & Nitin Kumar Sinha 5-4(3); Banthia lost to Nitin 1-5; Swarandeep Singh & Diva lost to Mohit Phogat & Mahika 3-5].
Stag Babolat Yoddhas bt DMG Crusaders 25-24 [Nishant Dabas lost to Bushan Haobam 3-5; Nishant & VAnshika Chaudhary bt Bushan & Kashish Bhatia 5-3; Vijay Sundar Prashant bt Vishnu Vardhan 5-4(6); Vijay & Ishaque Eqbal lost to Vishnu & Karan Singh 4-5(5); Ishaque bt Karan 5-2; Nishant Goel & Vanshika lost to Rishi Kapur & Kashish 3-5].
Sapphire Superstars bt Sankara 23-17 [Chirag Duhan bt Shivank Bhatnagar 5-2; Chirag & Riya Sachdeva bt Shivank & Niyati Kukreti 5-1; Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan lost to Arjun Kadhe 0-5; Jeevan & Prithvi Sekhar lost to Arjun & Parikshit Somani 3-5; Prithvi bt Parikshit 5-3; Aditya Khanna & Riya bt Ashish Khanna & Niyati 5-1].
