Paes returns to Challenger

PUNE: For the first time in nearly two decades, Leander Paes will play in a Challenger tournament in India when he takes to court in the $50,000 KPIT Challenger tennis starting here on Monday. Paes will partner Ramkumar Ramanathan and the duo have been seeded second in the doubles event.
The last time Paes, 43, played in a Challenger on home soil was in 1997 when he partnered Nitten Kirrtane and lost in the quarters of a $25,000 event in Ahmedabad.
In a strong field featuring 10 Indian teams, Purav Raja and Divij Sharan have been top seeded while Saketh Myneni and Sanam Singh are third seeds and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth fourth.
In the $10,000 KPIT BVG women's event being held concurrently, Pragati Solankar of Solapur and Aryalee Chavan registered wins to make it to the second round of qualifying.
RESULTS: Qualifying round 1: Prakriti Banwani bt Sahan Shetty 3-6, 6-0, 6-2; Sindhu Jangam bt Nikitha Tirdala 6-2, 6-2; Ashmitha Easwaramurthi bt Rishika Ravindran 6-2, 6-0; Theiviya Selvarajoo (Mas) bt K.Sri Sai Shivani 6-0, 6-1; Aareyalee Chavan bt Sweta Nalekala 6-2, 6-1.