Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi keep Indian hopes alive in $25,000 tennis in Pune

Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi emerged honourable exceptions as the rest of the Indian players wilted against quality players, hungry for points at the end of the season, in the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Pune.

The second seeded Ankita beat Amina Anshba of Russia 6-2, 6-1 to set up a second round against another Russian, Ekaterina Yashina.

Fourth seed Karman Kaur Thandi beat qualifier Aleksandrina Naydenova of Bulgaria 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

In doubles also, only the top seeds Ankita and Karman made it to the quarterfinals.

None of the eight Indian players could win a round in the qualifying event. Zeel Desai, Mahak Jain, Humera Sahik and Natasha Palha went down in three sets.

The results:

Singles (first round): Tamara Zidansek (Slo) bt Ya-Husan Lee (Tpe) 6-3, 6-3; Mariam Bolkvadze (Geo) bt Maria Marfutina (Rus) 6-2, 6-2; Marina Melnikova (Rus) bt Jennifer Luikham 7-6(2), 6-3; Olga Doroshina (Rus) bt Katarzyna Kawa (Pol) 6-3, 6-2; Jia-Jing Lu (Chn) bt Katarzyna Piter (Pol) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4; Jacqueline Adlina Cristian (Rou) bt Miyabi Inoue (Jpn) 6-1, 7-5; Eva Guerrero Alvarez (Esp) bt Junri Namigata (Jpn) 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-4; Deniz Khazaniuk (Isr) bt Snehal Mane 6-3, 6-1; Valeriya Strakhova (Ukr) bt Katy Dunne (GBR) 6-1, 6-3; Katharina Gerlach (Ger) bt Riya Bhatia 6-0, 6-3; Reka-Luca Jani (Hun) bt Kaylan Mcphee (Aus) 1-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3); Karman Kaur Thandi bt Aleksandrina Naydenova (Bul) 4-6, 7-5, 7-5; Quinne Lemoine (Ned) bt Pia Cuk (Slo) 6-1, 6-1; Kai-Lin Zhang (Chn) bt Rutuja Bhosale 7-6(6), 7-6(5); Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) bt Risa Ozaki (Jpn) 6-4, 6-2; Ankita Raina bt Amina Anshba (Rus) 6-2, 6-1.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Ankita Raina & Karman Kaur Thandi bt Pei-Chi Lee (Tpe) & Kaylah Mcphee (Aus) 6-2, 6-4; chieh-Yu Hsu (Tpe) & Jia-Jing Lu (Chn) bt Ho Ching Wu (Hkg) & Snehal Mane 6-2, 6-4; Jaqueline Adina Cristian (Rou) & Quirine Lemoine (Ned) bt Reka-Luca Jani (Hun) & Valeriya Strakhova (Ukr) 6-4, 3-6, 10-3; Amina Anshba (Rus) & Paula Kania (Pol) bt Natasha Palha & Rishika Sunkara 6-0, 6-2; Aleksandrina Naydenova (Bul) & Tamara Zidansek (Slo) bt Maria Marfutina (Rus) & Anna Morgina (Rus) 6-1, 6-0; Ana Veselinovic (Mne) & Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) bt Mariam Bolkvadze (Geo) & Albina Khabibulina (Uzb) 7-6(2), 6-4; Sharon Fichman (Can) & Katarzyna Piter (Pol) bt Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) & Eden Silva (GBR) 6-3, 6-1; Katy Dunne & Sarah Beth Grey (GBR) bt Katharina Gerlach (Ger) & Erika Vogelsang (Ned) 6-4, 5-7, 10-3.

Qualifying singles (second and final round): aleksandrina Naydenova (Bul) bt Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) 6-3, 6-2; Katharina Gerlach bt Eden Silva 6-2, 6-2; Mariam Bolkvadze bt Sarah-Rebecca Sekulic (Ger) 6-2, 6-2; Kaylah Mcphee bt Anastasia Nefedova (US) 6-1, 6-3; Ekaterina Yashina bt Paula Cristina Goncalves 9Bra) 6-4, 7-6(2); Miyabi Inoue bt Chieh-Yu Hsu 1-6, 6-3, 6-1; Maria Marfutina bt Nika Kukharchuk (Rus) 6-3, 6-1; Pia Cuk bt Maryna Chernyshova (Ukr) 6-3, 6-2.

First round: Diana Marcinkevica bt Arianne Hartono (Ned) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2; Aleksandrina Naydenova bt Zeel Desai 1-6, 6-2, 6-1; Katharina Gerlach bt Melanie Klaffner (Aut) 6-2, 7-5; Eden Silva bt Alina Silich (Rus) 6-2, 6-4; Mariam Bolkvadze bt Mahak Jain 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Sarah-Rebecca Sekulic bt Prathiba Narayan Prasad 6-1, 6-1; Kaylah Mcphee bt Sowjanya Bavisetti 6-4, 6-3; Anastasia Nefedova bt Tejasvi Kate 6-1, 6-1; Ekaterina Yashina bt Humera Shaik 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; Paula Cristina Goncalves bt Mihika Yadav 6-4, 6-2; Miyabi Inoue bt Dominique Karregat (Ned) 6-4, 6-3; Chieh-yu Hsu bt Ho Ching Wu (Hkg) 6-2, 6-3; Nika Kukharchuk bt Pei-Chi Lee (Tpe) 6-2, 6-3; Maria Marfutina bt Sarah Beth Grey (GBr) 6-4, 7-6(4); Maryna Chernyshova bt Simona Waltert (sui) 7-5, 6-3; Pia Cuk bt Natasha Palha 7-6(5), 6-7(7), 7-5.