$150K(+H) Bangalore/$50K(+H) Pune Challenger, Nov.12-25, 2018

[jaydeep]

Hopefully, the fourth wild card goes to either Saketh, Mukund or Arjun who are more likely to have a chance of getting a win in main draw.

Yes, the last wild card goes to Saki ... So Saketh Myneni joins Suraj Prabodh, Adil Kalyanpur and Sumit Nagal as the wild-card entry in the main-draw.

[bujilover]

Did you guys know Yuki withdraw from that Japanese challenger, too?

[RohitG]

In fact the top seed withdrew from it too along with Sugita. Nishioka will be the top seed there and Yuki would have been 2nd. With a depleted field in an already lower level challenger, it would have been easier for Yuki to make a run to the finals and defend a major chunk of the points that are falling off in November. Looks like Yuki will be falling down to #130.

Bengaluru also has seen 4 withdrawals so far in Jordan Thompson, Berankis, Safwat and Bolelli.

[bujilover]

QD:

Sebastian FANSELOW vs Manish SURESHKUMAR
S D Prajwal DEV vs Youssef HOSSAM
Arjun KADHE vs Mick LESCURE
Siddharth VISHWAKARMA vs Chien-hsun LO
Sidharth RAWAT vs Benjamin HASSAN
Aryan GOVEAS vs Karunuday SINGH
Michael ZHU vs Sasi Kumar MAKUND
Niki KALIYANDA vs Ranjeet VIRALI
Nitin Kumar SINHA vs Lucas GERCH

[jaydeep]

I was hoping much stronger performance from Indians ... Mukund started with a solid win but a disappointing loss for Arjun.

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[Q1] (WC) S D Prajwal Dev (IND,1075) l Youssef Hossam (EGY,480) 67(3) 36
[Q1] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) bt Chien-hsun Lo (TPE,664) 62 26 75
[Q1] (WC) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,971) bt Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND,641) 75 63
[Q1] Manish Sureshkumar (IND,522) l Sebastian Fanselow (GER,435) 16 26
[Q1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,623) l (6) Benjamin Hassan (GER,409) 67(1) 64 36
[Q1] (3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,362) l Mick Lescure (FRA,494) 46 64 26
[Q1] (WC) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,877) l Lucas Gerch (GER,785) 36 46
[Q1] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) bt Michael Zhu (USA,758) 62 60
[Q1] Aryan Goveas (IND,794) bt (WC) Karunuday Singh (IND,757) 63 67(4) 4-1 retd.
[Q1] (WC) Vasisht Cheruku (IND,1467) l (8) Zizou Bergs (BEL,419) 46 36

[Q2] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) vs (5) Antoine Escoffier (FRA,396)
[Q2] (WC) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,971) vs Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB,563)
[Q2] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) vs Lucas Gerch (GER,785)
[Q2] Aryan Goveas (IND,794) vs (8) Zizou Bergs (BEL,419)

[jaydeep]

In the main draw, Saki is facing against Adil ... Suraj having a tough match against the top-150 Frenchman, Quentin Halys ... Prajnesh is facing Russian Ivan Nedelko ... The defending champion Sumit needs to start with an upset win against the top-175 Britisher, Jay Clarke.

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) vs (WC) Adil Kalyanpur (IND,1034)
[R1] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,310) vs (7) Jay Clarke (GBR,174)
[R1] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) vs Ivan Nedelko (RUS,264)
[R1] (WC) Suraj R. Prabodh (IND,841) vs (6) Quentin Halys (FRA,145)

[RohitG]

It's a shame that 2 of our wildcards have to play each other in the first round. Sumit vs Clarke is a repeat of last year's final; except this time Sumit has 125 points to defend and hasn't had a nice season.

Sumit eyes comback
Sumit is training with Milos Galecic as per this article. Wasn't Milos the fitness trainer of Somdev?

[arjun2761]

Actually, Adil Kalyanpur is basically a guaranteed loss, so atleast his loss provides a passage to a fellow Indian

[Sin Hombre]

Agree with arjun.

I was expecting only 1 Indian into round 2 but at least that expectation has now doubled.

[sameerph]

I was hoping much stronger performance from Indians ... Mukund started with a solid win but a disappointing loss for Arjun.

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[Q1] (WC) S D Prajwal Dev (IND,1075) l Youssef Hossam (EGY,480) 67(3) 36
[Q1] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) bt Chien-hsun Lo (TPE,664) 62 26 75
[Q1] (WC) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,971) bt Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND,641) 75 63
[Q1] Manish Sureshkumar (IND,522) l Sebastian Fanselow (GER,435) 16 26
[Q1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,623) l (6) Benjamin Hassan (GER,409) 67(1) 64 36
[Q1] (3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,362) l Mick Lescure (FRA,494) 46 64 26
[Q1] (WC) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,877) l Lucas Gerch (GER,785) 36 46
[Q1] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) bt Michael Zhu (USA,758) 62 60
[Q1] Aryan Goveas (IND,794) bt (WC) Karunuday Singh (IND,757) 63 67(4) 4-1 retd.
[Q1] (WC) Vasisht Cheruku (IND,1467) l (8) Zizou Bergs (BEL,419) 46 36

[Q2] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) vs (5) Antoine Escoffier (FRA,396)
[Q2] (WC) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,971) vs Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB,563)
[Q2] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) vs Lucas Gerch (GER,785)
[Q2] Aryan Goveas (IND,794) vs (8) Zizou Bergs (BEL,419)

True, only Arjun lost against a lower ranked player but expected better from him and Siddharth Rawat, Manish and Nitin in a home challenger.

Overall, it is a much tougher Bangalore open than last year ( mostly due to increase in prize money, I think). Last year the cut off was 419 while this year it is 290. As a result, we have only 5 players in the main draw here as compared to 10 last time.

[sameerph]

Another dominating win for Mukund to move thru to final qualifying round.

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[Q2] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) d. Lucas Gerch (GER,785) 61 64

After losing the first set 5-7, Aryan has just taken the second set 6-4 against 8th seed Bergs.

Now, Mukund plays the Frenchman who upset Arjun in Q1.

[Q3] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) vs. Mick Lescure (FRA,494)

[suresh]

Lefty Siddharth pulls off a major upset taking out Escoffier in three sets.

[Q2] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) d (5) Antoine Escoffier (FRA,396) 7-6(3) 3-6 6-3
[Q2] (WC) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,971) l Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB,563) 4-6 1-6
[Q2] Aryan Goveas (IND,794) l (8) Zizou Bergs (BEL,419) 5-7 6-4 6-3

[FQR] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) vs Y Hossam (EGY, 480)

[sameerph]

Good couple of wins by Siddharth Vishwakarma. The national title seems to have spurred him on and increased his confidence.

Hope at least 1 of Mukund and Siddhant qualify for main draw if not both.

[PKBasu]

Terrific couple of wins for Siddharth Vishwakarma, particularly against # 396 Escoffier. Good to see Mukund also in the FQR. Arjun's singles performances have faded in the past 2-3 months, sadly.

[jaydeep]

The doubles draw is out ... Jeevan is the top seeds with Kevin Krawietz ... Bala is back with Vishnu and they r the 3rd seeds ... Sood brothers and Dev-Niki pairs have received the wild cards ... Purav and Sancic r the 2nd seeds ... Also, Saki and Arjun r playing together.

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[R1] (1) Kevin Krawietz (GER)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)
[R1] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Brayden Schnur (CAN)
[R1] (WC) Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) vs Max Purcell (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS)
[R1] (WC) S.D. Prajwal Dev (IND)/ Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) vs Alexander Pavlioutchenkov (RUS)/ Filip Peliwo (CAN)
[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs (4) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)
[R1] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) vs Romain Arneodo (MON)/ Quentin Halys (FRA)