Kanak Jha Overcomes Challenges to Join US Team at Final Hurdle

By Matt Hetherington
Kanak Jha Overcomes Challenges to Join US Team at Final Hurdle
The final day presented a big pressure situation for a handful of players who had started out with high seedings on day 1 but remained in the draw on day 3. In fact all of the top 7 seeds would still be in to fight on the last day. One such player, Kanak Jha, initially the number 1 seed had lost on both days 1 and 2 to the eventual winners, both of whom exceeded expectations with their incredible play. On day 3 he would have to bring out his best and work hard to get through the matches on the road to victory.

The first round would see no major upsets, but the pressure started to build in the quarters. The standout performer of day 3 would be Nikhil Kumar, while having not performed to his best on days 1 and 2, Nikhil found his A game as he moved towards the later stages. He would clutch a tight victory over Krish Avvari in the quarterfinals to start the big build for his campaign. Sharon Alguetti would overcome TJ Beebe with relative comfort who had progressed after Shao Yu’s default in the round of 16.

Kanak Jha would systematically dismantle Victor Liu as he shut down his strong forehand game and controlled the points. The big quarterfinal match would see the resurgence of Gal Alguetti who would reverse his day 1 result by eliminating Nicholas Tio to move into the semifinals. He produced some outstanding rallies and demonstrated a great balance of attack and control.

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