Date:23/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/23/stories/2008122361632000.htm

Sport - Tennis

Shikha ousts I-Hsuan Hwang

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Shikha Uberoi recorded a 6-2, 6-4 victory over the seventh-seeded I-Hsuan Hwang of Chinese Taipei in the first round of the $50,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Monday.

Shikha raced away with the first set, with breaks in the third, fifth and seventh games. Into the second set, the diminutive Taipei girl looked to have found her touch , as she ran up a 4-1 lead with a break in the fourth game.

Recovers composure

However, Shikha recovered her composure and kept playing the rallies hard, rather than going for outright winners, and that worked in her favour. In a dream sequence, Shikha reeled off five games in a row, breaking the Taipei girl in the seventh and ninth games.

Ankita moves up

Ankita Bhambri was the other Indian to make it the pre-quarterfinals, as she beat compatriot Rushmi Chakravarthi in straight sets.

However, Ankita’s younger sister, Sanaa Bhambri was at the receiving end against the eighth seed, Yuliya Beygelzimer of Ukraine, and managed to eke out a solitary game.

The results: Singles (first round): Shikha Uberoi bt I-Hsuan Hwang (Tpe) 6-2, 6-4; Ling Zhang (Hkg) bt Nudnida Luangnam (Tha) 6-0, 7-5; Yuliya Beygelzimer (Ukr) bt Sanaa Bhambri 6-1, 6-0; Ankita Bhambri bt Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-1, 6-4.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Neha Uberoi (U.S.) and Shikha Uberoi bt Melanie Klaffner (Aut) and Laura Siegemund (Ger) 7-6(3), 6-4; Liu Shaozhuo (Chn) and Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Parul Goswami and Poojashree Venkatesh 6-3, 6-1; Yuliya Beygelzimer (Ukr) and Florence Haring (Fra) bt Marina Melnikova (Rus) and Parija Maloo 6-3, 6-2; Megan Moulton-Levy (U.S.) and Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) bt Shiho Hisamatsu and Miki Miyamura (Jpn) 7-6(4), 6-2; Ganna Piven and Anastasiya Vasylyeva (Ukr) bt Ayu-Fani Damayanti and Lavinia Tananta (Ina) 6-4, 6-1; Ankita Bhambri and Sanaa Bhambri bt Tadeja Majeric and Masa Zec-Peskiric (Slo) 6-4, 7-6(4); Anna Gerasimou (Gre) and Margit Ruutel (Est) bt Zheng Jun-Yi (Chn) and Shalini Sahoo 6-1, 6-2; I-Hsuan Hwang (Tpe) and Ling Zhang (Hkg) bt Ratnika Batra and Shweta Chandra Rana 6-2, 6-0.