Vikrant Chadha on a roll

Indian player Vikrant Chadha is having a great run in the Canada F3 futures. Partnering James Shortall of New Zealand, he entered the doubles final of the event.

The 23-year-old lad from Chandigarh and Shortall beat India's Manoj Mahadevan and Simon Shen of the United States 6-4, 7-6(3) in the semi-finals.

Another Indian, Harsh Mankad and Carey Franklin of the United States will face the top seed Andrew Nisker of Britain and Tripp Phillips of the United States in the other semi-final.

Earlier, Mankad and Franklin had upset the third seeded Indian pair of Moustafa Ghouse and Rishi Sridhar in the first round.

In the singles, Chadha lost to fourth seed Benjamin Cassaigne of France 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

As a junior, Chadha was a member of international team of four players from around the world selected by ITF to participate in Wimbledon, the French Open, Italian Open and other junior events. Winner of the Indian national singles championship in the Under 12, 14, 16, 18 categories, he also represented the Indian team for three years in the World Youth Cup.

Harsh Mankad, who won the F1 event two weeks back, lost in the second round to Matt Klinger of Canada 7-6(4), 6-3.

The other Indians on view, Rishi Sridhar and Moustafa Ghouse both lost in the first round itself.

In the women's circuit, Manisha Malhotra and Leanne Baker of New Zealand continued their winning streak, reaching the final at the $25,000 ITF women's circuit Challenger being played at Bastad, Sweden.

The top seeds beat Czech pair of Olga Blahotova and Gabriela Navartilova 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals.

They will face the Austrian pair of Sandra Klemenschitz and Daniella Klemenschitz in the finals.

Earlier, Manisha lost in the first round of the singles event to top seed Amanda Hopmans of The Netherlands.

Manisha Malhotra and Leanne Baker had won the doubles title at the $50,000 Challenger in Marseille, France, two weeks back.

Two more Indian women on the circuit, Shruti Dhawan and Sai Jayalakshmi went out early in the tournament. Dhawan lost in the second round at the $10,000 Alkmaar satellite being played in The Netherlands while Jayalakshmi lost in the first round.

In the doubles also Jayalakshmi, with Rushmi Chakravarti, lost in the first round, while Dhawan, playing with Kika Hogendoorn of The Netherlands, also lost in the first round.

Related reports:
Canada F2 tournament, Montreal, Canada
Mankad falls at first hurdle
Canada F1 tournament, Mississauga, Canada
Harsh Mankad claims first pro title
Harsh Mankad rallies to make semis
Good going for Indians on international circuit