WTT Contender: Diya-Sreeja through to semis

India’s women’s doubles pair of Diya Chitale and Sreeja Akula stormed into the semifinals of the WTT Contender with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Xin Ru Wong and Jian Zeng of Singapore, on Friday.

India’s Sreeja Akula in action. (File Photo) | Photo Credit: AP

Continuing their splendid run, India’s women’s doubles pair of Diya Chitale and Sreeja Akula stormed into the semifinals of the WTT Contender with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Xin Ru Wong and Jian Zeng of Singapore, here on Friday.

In a battle stretched to the fullest, Sreeja and Diya lost the first game but fought back to win the next two to snatch a 2-1 lead.

The Singaporean duo however levelled it all before the Sreeja and Diya showed fine composure to seal it 9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8 in a battle lasting little over 39 minutes. The Indian duo will take on Suthasini Sawettabut and Orawan Paranang of Thailand in the battle for the women’s doubles summit clash.

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Earlier on Thursday, India’s top-ranked woman paddler Manika Batra advanced to pre-quarterfinals beating Croatia’s Hana Arapovic 3-1.

Batra, world No. 38, came back strongly after losing the opening game, as she convincingly won the next three to seal the issue 6-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-1 in 28 minutes.

However, the other Indian woman in the singles fray, Sutirtha Mukherjee was blanked 0-3 by South Korea’s Yang Ha Eun. Ha Eun won 11-5, 11-5, 11-6.

The day belonged to young Indian pair of Sreeja and Diya, who entered the last-eight stage beating American pair of Chinese origin Lily Zhang and Rachel Sung in a hard-fought game affair. The Indian pair won 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9 in just under 30 minutes.

The other Indian pair of Sutirtha Mukehrjee and Ayhika Mukherjee, who did well in the previous WTT event in Tunisia, were beaten 1-3 by the local pair of Ivana Malobabic and Mateja Jeger. The Croat pair won 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9.

In the men’s doubles, veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal and in-form Harmeet Desai were lost 0-3 to Chinese pair of Lin Gaoyuan and Liang Jingkun after putting up a syiff fight in the first game. The Indians lost 11-13, 5-11, 4-11. In the mixed doubles, Batra, who teamed up with G Sathiyan, lost a gruelling five-game pre quarter-final contest to Lee Zion and Cho Seungmin of South Korea.

The Koreans won 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-8, 13-11 in a match that went on for nearly 50 minutes.