Karin Kennel stops Jennifer Luikham in $25K tennis

Karin Kennel of Switzerland beat Jennifer Luikham 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 in the second and final qualifying round of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament on Monday.

Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty who had knocked out second seed Silvia Njiric of Croatia in the first round, was beaten 6-1, 4-6, 10-4 by Punnin Kovapitukted of Thailand in the final round.

In fact, none of the Indian players managed to qualify into the main draw, but two players Snehal Mane and Ashmitha Easwaramurthi made it as the lucky losers.

Ankita Raina has been seeded second and could potentially have a second round against Karman Kaur Thandi. Rutuja Bhosale and Riya Bhatia are the other direct entrants, while the four wild cards were given to national champion Sowjanya Bavisetti, Sara Yadav, Mihika Yadav and Rashi Malviya.

The results:

Qualifying singles (seocnd and final round): Karin Kennel (SUI) bt Jennifer Luikham 6-2, 4-6, [10-8]; Punnin Kovapitukted (THA) bt Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty 6-1, 4-6, [10-4]; Melanie Klaffner (AUT) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-3, 6-3; Vlada Katic (ISR) bt Snehal Mane 6-3, 6-1; Freya Christie (GBR) bt Ashmitha Easwaramurthi 6-3, 7-6(2); Maria Timofeeva (RUS) bt Zeynep Sonmez (TUR) 7-6(3), 6-0; Mana Kawamura (JPN) bt Funa Kozaki (JPN) 6-1, 6-2; Dan Ni Wang (CHN) bt Evgeniya Burdina (RUS) 6-2, 6-2.

First round: Karin Kennel (SUI) bt Saumya Vig 6-0, 6-2; Jennifer Luikham bt Avika Sagwal 6-3, 6-3; Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Silvia Njiric (CRO) 6-2, 6-2; Punnin Kovapitukted (THA) bt Sarah Pang (SGP) 6-2, 6-1; Melanie Klaffner (AUT) bt Vanshita Pathania 6-0, 6-0; Vaidehi chaudhari bt Humera Shaik 6-3, 6-1; Vlada Katic (ISR) bt Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi 6-2, 6-0; Snehal Mane bt Aayush Tanwar 6-2, 7-6(5); Freya Christie (GBR) bt Soha Sadiq 7-5, 2-6, [10-5]; Ashmitha Easwaramurthi bt Arthi Muniyan 6-3, 6-3; Zeynep Sonmez (TUR) bt Niditra Rajmohan 6-0, 6-2; Maria Timofeeva (RUS) bt Prathiba Narayan Prasad 6-0, 7-6(5); Funa Kozaki (JPN) bt Deeksha Manju Prasad 6-1, 6-2; Mana Kawamura (JPN) bt Natasha Palha 6-0, 6-4; Dan Ni Wang (CHN) bt Shreya Tatavarthy 6-0, 7-6(1); Evgeniya Burdina (RUS) bt Pareen Shivekar 7-6(5), 6-3.

(Courtesy: The Hindu)