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

[sameerph]

Re: Pune Challenger, Sumit is now only one spot from making the main draw.

He should get in when 1 of the special exempt spots clear. Saketh should get the special exempt spot. So, instead of 1 this week, we should have 4 - RamK, Prajnesh, Saketh and Sumit should be in the main draw. As per news reports, 2 of the main draw wild cards have been given to local boys Arjun Kadhe and Aryan Goveas. Other 2 still to be decided based on results at Bangalore. Now that both Saketh and Sumit appearing to be getting in directly, one of the 2 remaining wild cards should certainly go to Mukund ( if he is fit).

[bujilover]

Yes, Mukund is not in the QD. So Arjun, Aryan and Mukund are the 3 wildcard recipients, not sure who the next one is. Also, seems like no honeymoon plans for VSP as he is in the qualifying draw.

[jaydeep]

Good to see the all Indian final ... A good win from Prajnesh.

Purav and Sancic lost the final against the Aussie pairing of Purcell and Saville.

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

Doubles Final
(2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) l Max Purcell (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS) 67(3) 36

[jayakris]

Who would have predicted that we would have Prajnesh as the India #1 by the end of the year? Whoa, what a year he has had. And it is so nice to see Saki back like this too...

[arjun2761]

Fantastic performance by the Gunner and Saki to make the final here! May the better man on the day win as both have a significant stake in the result with respect to the Australian Open...

[vparam]

Fantastic performance by the Gunner and Saki to make the final here! May the better man on the day win as both have a significant stake in the result with respect to the Australian Open...

That's true. If Prajnesh wins he will be very close to a main draw direct entry into the Aussie Open. If Saki wins, he will be very close to making the cutoff for qualifying at the Open.

[Sin Hombre]

Excellent stuff by both.

I had expected two Indians in 2nd round and 1 in SF before the tournament.

Prajnesh would need to win the finals and reach the finals in Pune to make it to the AO main draw. Tough ask.

[sameerph]

True, also Prajnesh's points tally includes 33 points from futures. All the 2019 entry lists would be based on new rankings system where all the futures ( except minor points for finalists at 25K level) and challenger qualies will be taken out. So, Prajnesh's points tally will drop. There could be others too who would be dropping those points. But, there will be a few in top 110 who would have futures points in their kitty.

So, Prajnesh may have to pretty much win both Bagalore and Pune titles to ensure he gets into AO main draw.

On the other hand, Saki will be almost certain to make the qualifying draw at Australian open if he wins the title. So, I will rout for Saki today.

[Atithee]

On the other hand, Saki will be almost certain to make the qualifying draw at Australian open if he wins the title. So, I will rout for Saki today.

You better root not rout for him Sameer

[sameerph]

Oh, yes. Misspelled. I hope it does not it into a rout for him.

[RohitG]

So Manish Sureshkumar is the 4th wildcard and Saketh gets the SE spot. With that the four wildcards for Pune are: Arjun, Aryan, Mukund and Manish. Sumit made it to the main draw along with RamK and Prajnesh. RamK faces Arjun while Saki will play against Mukund, so that's 2 Indians guaranteed in the last 16.

[PKBasu]

Terrible draw for the unseeded Indians. Sumit plays top seed Radu Albot in R1, Manish plays 3rd seed Elias Ymer, Aryan plays Bangalore semifinalist Schnur, and of course Arjun and Mukund play Ramkumar and Saketh respectively. Phew!

[vparam]

On the other hand, Saki will be almost certain to make the qualifying draw at Australian open if he wins the title. So, I will rout for Saki today.

You better root not rout for him Sameer

Saki is indeed getting routed!

[jaydeep]

I was expecting some fireworks but Prajnesh scored a comfortable win over Saki inside an hour ... Prajnesh had a solid service games as he didn't face a single break point on his serve ... Other hand he managed to put pressure on Saki's serve as Prajnesh had 10 break points chances and he converted 4 of them ... So with this win, Prajnesh becomes our new #1 singles player on the tour in style ... A well deserving achievement considering his overall 2018 performance.

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

Singles Final
(4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) bt (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) 62 62

[jaydeep]

As PKB mentioned, a terrible draw for our unseeded players ... Though we can hope at least 4 players in the second round.

At $50K+H Pune Challenger 2018, India

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,309) vs (1) Radu Albot (MDA,101)
[R1] (SE) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) vs (WC) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418)
[R1] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,144) vs Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,267)
[R1] (WC) Manish Sureshkumar (IND,522) vs (3) Elias Ymer (SWE,132)
[R1] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,124) vs (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,362)