ITF Women’s Tour, Bengaluru: Ankita-Prarthana pair reaches doubles quarterfinals

The No. 2 seeded duo of Raina and Thombare defeated the wildcard Indo-German pair of Sharmada Balu and Sarah Rebecca Sekulic 5-7, 6-3, [10-6] in a thrilling Round-of-16 match that lasted close to two hours.

Prarthana Thombare (left) and Ankita Raina (right) in action during their doubles round of 16 match at the ITF 40k USD women’s tournament in Bengaluru on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Indian pair of Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombare registered an impressive come-from-behind win to enter the doubles quarter-finals of the ITF 40k USD women’s tournament at the KSLTA Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

The tournament is part of the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour and is being hosted by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association.

The No. 2 seeded duo of Raina and Thombare defeated the wildcard Indo-German pair of Sharmada Balu and Sarah Rebecca Sekulic 5-7, 6-3, [10-6] in a thrilling Round-of-16 match that lasted close to two hours.

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The third seeded Indo-Swedish pair of Rutuja Bhosale and Jacqueline Awad also advanced to the last-eight stage after defeating Ji Hee Choi (South Korea) and Lee Ya-Hsuan (Taipei) 6-4, 6-2.

The all-Indian pair of Pragathi Narayan and Prathiba Narayan, on the other hand, exited in the Round-of-16 following a 4-6, 2-6 defeat against Anastasia Kovaleva and Hanna Vinahradava.

A similar fate was in store for another all-Indian pair of Vaidehi Chaudhari and Shrivalli Rashmikaa who gave a tough fight to the fancied duo of Slovenia’s Dalilia Jakupovic, a former World No. 38, and Amandine Hesse of France before going down 6-7 (5), 7-5, [5-10].

In the singles opening round, Japanese Ikumi Yamazaki stunned the third seeded Sakura Hosogi 5-7, 3-6. Bengaluru girl Sharmada, a wild card entrant lost to No. 8 seed Eden Silva of Great Britain 2-6, 4-6.

RESULTS

Singles (1st Round)

Daria Kudashova (RUS) bt Anchisa Chanta (THA) 6-4, 6-7(7), 7-6(5); [8] Eden Silva (GBR) bt [WC] Sharmada Balu (IND) 6-2, 6-4; Ikumi Yamazaki (JPN) bt [3] Sakura Hosogi (JPN) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles (1st Round)

[2] Ankita Raina/Prarthana Thombare (IND) bt Sharmada Balu (IND)/Sarah-Rebecca Sekulic (GER) 5-7, 6-3, [10-6]; [3] Rutuja Bhosale (IND)/Jacqueline Cabaj Awad (SWE) bt Ji-Hee Choi (KOR)/Ya-Hsuan Lee (TPE) 6-4, 6-2; Amandine Hesse (FRA)/Dalila Jakupovic (SLO) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari/Shrivalli Rashmikaa (IND) 7-6(5), 5-7, [10-5]; Anastasia Kovaleva (RUS)/Hanna Vinahradava (BLR) bt Pragathi Narayan Prasad/Prathiba Narayan Prasad (IND) 6-4, 6-2; [1] Francisca Jorge/Matilda Jorge (POR) bt Peangtarn Plipuech/Lanlana Tararudee (THA) 7-6(1), 2-6, [10-8]; Saki Imamura (JPN)/Chia Yi Tsao (TPE) bt Sakuri Hosogi/Ikumi Yamazaki (JPN) 6-1, 7-6(4); [4] Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE)/Eden Silva (GBR) bt Kanako Morisaki/Akiko Omae (JPN) 7-6(1), 6-1; Elena-Teodora Cadar (ROU)/Diana Marcinkevica (LAT) bt Soha Sadiq/Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND) 6-4, 7-6(3)