Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi meet in semifinals, and fight together in doubles final
Ankita Raina blanked Kai-Lin Zhang of China to set up a semifinal against compatriot and doubles partner Karman Kaur Thandi in the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Pune on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Karman, ranked 219, had to fight it out against Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine 7-6(9), 6-2.
Ankita and Karman had won the doubles title in the $125,000 event last week in China. They had played each other once in the professional circuit and Ankita had won the match last year in Navi Mumbai.
In the doubles final, Ankita and Karman will play Aleksandrina Naydenova of Bulgaria and Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia.
The results:
Singles (quarterfinals): Tamara Zidansek (Slo) bt Marina Melnikova (Rus) 3-6, 6-0, 6-3; Eva Guerrero Alvarez (Esp) bt Jaqueline Adina Cristian (Rou) 6-2, 6-2; Karman Kaur Thandi bt Valeriya Strakhova (Ukr) 7-6(9), 6-2; Ankita Raina bt Kai-Lin Zhang (Chn) 6-0, 6-0.
Pre-quarterfinals: Tamara Zidansek bt Mariam Bolkvadze (Geo) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; Marina Melnikova bt Olga Doroshina (Rus) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1; Jaqueline Adina cristian bt Jia-Jing Lu (Chn) 7-6(5), 6-4; Eva Guerrero Alvarez bt Deniz Khazaniuk (Isr) 6-3, 6-4; Valeriya Strakhova bt Katharina Gerlach (Ger) 7-6(0), 7-5; Karman Kaur Thandi bt Reka-Luca Jani (Hun) 6-3, 6-2; Kai-Lin Zhang bt Quirine Lemoine (Ned) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2; Ankita Raina bt Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) 6-1, 5-7, 6-1.
Doubles (semifinals): Ankita Raina & Karman Kaur Thandi bt Amina Anshba (Rus) & Paula Kania (Pol) 6-3, 6-3; Aleksandrina Naydenova (Bul) & Tamara Zidansek (Slo) bt Sharon Fichman (Can) & Katarzyna Piter (Pol) 6-1, 6-4.
Quarterfinals: Ankita Riana & Karman Kaur Thandi bt Chieh-Yu Hsu (Tpe) & Jia-Jing Lu (Chn) 7-5, 6-2; Amina Anshba & Paula Kania bt Jaqueline Adina Cristian (Rou) & Quirine Lemoine (Ned) 6-3, 3-6, 10-8; Aleksandrina Naydenova & Tamara Zidansek bt Ana Veselinovic (Mne) & Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) 6-4, 6-1; Sharon fichman & Katarzyna Piter bt Katy Dunne & Sarah Beth Greay (GBR) 6-3, 6-0.
