TENNIS
$15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament: Jennifer Luikham beat Haine Ogata of Japan.
GWALIOR: Third seed Jennifer Luikham continued to assert her fighting abilities to get past Haine Ogata of Japan 7-6(4), 7-5 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the City Centre Tennis Complex on Thursday.
The 23-year-old Jennifer was in vibrant form as she led 5-1 in the first set and 5-2 in the second, but was unable to close it out quickly, thanks mainly to the strong defence of the Japanese, who was quick on her feet and sported a calm demeanour despite the fluctuating flow of the contest.
From 5-1 in the first, Jennifer trailed 5-6 before breaking the serve in the 12th and cruising through in the tie-break. In the second set, Jennifer missed three match points on her serve in the 12th game, and saved three break points before sealing her place in the quarterfinals.
Jennifer will play Humera Baharmus in the quarterfinals. Top seed Ksenia Laskutova of Russia will play Sravya Shivani. Akanksha Nitture will challenge fourth seed Weronika Baszak of Poland, while second seed Vaidehi Chaudhari will play sixth-seed Sharmada Balu.
The results:
- Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Ksenia Laskutova bt Farhat Aleen Qamar 6-2, 6-2; Sravya Shivani bt Soha Sadiq 6-2, 6-2; Jennifer Luikham bt Haine Ogata (Jpn) 7-6(4), 7-5; Humera Baharmus bt Abhaya Vemuri 6-2, 6-2; Akanksha Nitture bt Shreya Tatavarthy 6-4, 6-1; Weronika Baszak (Pol) bt Kashish Bhatia 6-4, 6-0; Sharmada Balu bt Parneet Kaur (Ita) 6-4, 6-2; Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Smriti Bhasin 6-3, 6-1.
- Doubles (quarterfinals): Ksenia Laskutova & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Jennifer Luikham & Akanksha Nitture 6-1, 6-0; Smriti Bhasin & Sai Samhitha bt Abhaya Vemuri & Apurva Vemuri 4-6, 6-2, [10-8]; Haine Ogata (Jpn) & Snehal Mane bt Farhat Aleen Qamar & Vanshita Pathania 2-6, 6-4, [10-7]; Vaishnavi Adkar & Saumya Vig bt Sharmada Balu & Sravya Shivani 6-4, 6-1.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
FOOTBALL
Santosh Trophy: Kerala triumphs over Bihar, while J&K falls short against Manipur.
KOZHIKODE: Host Kerala thrashed Bihar 4-1 in the Santosh Trophy qualifying tournament here on Thursday. It was its second win in as many games. Nijo Gilbert scored two of those goals, both in the opening half. The first came off a well-taken free-kick by Nijo, from a few yards outside the D. Four minutes later, he converted the penalty kick, awarded for Rahul Kumar’s handball.
Bihar, however, pulled one back through a header by Munna Mandi off a corner-kick by Akash Kumar. But Kerala struck twice within a space of four minutes, late in the game, to underline its supremacy.
Earlier, in a better-contested encounter, Mizoraram defeated Jammu & Kashmir 3-2.
The results:
- Kerala 4 (Nijo Gilbert 24 & 28, Vishak Mohanan 81, K. Abdu Raheem 85) bt Bihar 1 (Munna Mandi 70).
- Mizoram 3 (Lalbiakhlua 33, Lalthankhuma 83, Lalbunzira Sailo 87) bt Jammu & Kashmir 2 (Adnan Ayub 10, Aakif Javaid 58-pen).
- P. K. Ajith Kumar
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