Wild Card Paparkar Shines on Opening Day of MSLTA 25K ITF Men’s Tournament

Mumbai, March 17, 2026:  India Under 18 No 1 player and local wild card Arnav Paparkar made most of the opportunity  reaching the second round of the men’s singles on the opening day of the MSLTA $25,000 ITF Men’s Tennis Tournament, organized by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association(MSLTA) and played at the Dr G.A. Ranade Tennis Centre.

The 17 year old Paparkar from Pune led 6-2,5-1 before his opponent Grigoriy Lomakin retired in the match. Indian players delivered an impressive performance In the singles main draw first round, seventh seed Sasikumar Mukund led the charge for the home contingent with a solid 7-5, 6-3 win over Thailand’s James Van Herzeele. Ishaque Eqbal also progressed comfortably, defeating wildcard Raghav Jaisinghani 6-3, 6-2.

Another convincing performance came from Sidharth Rawat, who outplayed wildcard Caheer Warik 6-1, 6-2.  In one of the closest matches of the day, Ukraine’s Yurii Dzhavakian edged past Brian Bozemoj in a marathon three-setter 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4).

The doubles draw also saw strong performances from Indian pairs. Top seeds Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Ramkumar Ramanathan began their campaign in dominant fashion, defeating Kabir Hans and Maan Keshrwani 6-2, 6-3.

In a major upset Mumbai boy Aditya Balsekar in tandem with Vishnu Vardhan upset second seeds Brian Bozemoj and Stijn Pel 6-3, 6-1.  In a tightly contested encounter, Chirag Duhan and Dev Javia upset third seeds Ishaque Eqbal and Grigoriy Lomakin 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-4.

Digvijay Pratap Singh and Jagmeet Singh rallied strongly to overcome the fourth-seeded pair of Florent Bax and Karan Singh 6-7(7), 6-2, 10-6.

Results: Main Draw: First Round: Singles:
Sasikumar Mukund(7)(Ind) bt Van Herzeele James(THA) 7-5, 6-3;
Ishaque Eqbal(Ind) bt (WC)Raghav Jaisinghani(Ind)6-3,6-2;
Sidharth Rawat(Ind) bt (WC)Caheer Warik(Ind)6-1, 6-2;
(WC)Arnav Paparkar(Ind) bt  Grigoriy Lomakin(Kaz) 6-2, 5-1Retd;
Yurii Dzhavakian(Ukr) bt Brian Bozemoj(Ned) 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4);

Doubles: First Round:
Jeevan Neduncehzhiyan/Ramkumar Ramnathan(Ind)(1) bt Kabir Hans/Maan Keshrwani(Ind) 6-2, 6-3;
Rohan Mehra/Sidharth Rawat(Ind) bt A Shanmugam/Manish Sureshkumar(Ind) 6-3, 7-6(5);
Chirag Duhan/Dev Javia(Ind) bt Ishaque Eqbal(Ind)/Grigoriy Lomakin(Kaz)(3) 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-4;
Digvijay Pratap Singh/Jagmeet Singh(Ind) bt Florent Bax(Fra)/Karan Singh(Ind)(4) 6-7(7), 6-2, 10-6;
Aditya Balsekar/Vishanu Vardhan(Ind) bt Brian Bozemoj/Stijin Pel(Ned)(2) 6-3, 6-1.