Zeel Desai on the best way to her gritty win over Ankita Raina within the ITF girls’s tennis event in Gurugram on Thursday.
| Picture Credit score: Kamesh Srinivasan
Wild card entrant Zeel Desai continued to say her robust recreation and rising confidence as she beat seventh seed Ankita Raina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a three-hour battle of wits within the pre-quarterfinals of the $30,000 ITF girls’s tennis event on the Tennis Challenge, Baliyawas, on Thursday.
On a day when Vaidehi Chaudhari performed strong tennis to speed up previous Sahaja Yamalapalli for the lack of six video games, and later partnered Shrivalli Bhamidipaty to succeed in the doubles semifinals, the 26-year-old Zeel stole the thunder along with her maiden win over Ankita.
Zeel’s coach Alexander Waske of Germany, who has been guiding a lot of Indian gamers over time, was on the venue watching the proceedings and felt proud in regards to the combating recreation of his ward.
“Zeelilito, as we name her, fought very nicely. She attacked nicely and located options within the powerful moments. It was a match with a lot of lengthy rallies and I’m happy with her psychological recreation at the moment. Hope to see extra of this tomorrow,” stated Waske, who has a tie-up with Altevol Academy in Ahmedabad.
Zeel’s means shall be put underneath additional scrutiny when she takes on second-seed Ekaterina Makarova who needed to struggle her well past qualifier Rinon Okuwaki of Japan in three units.
Vaidehi will problem fifth seed Kristina Dmitruk within the quarterfinals.
Fourth seed Haruka Kaji beat the champion of the final event Sohyun Park of Korea for the lack of six video games, and can play fellow Japanese, qualifier Ikumi Yamazaki who beat sixth seed Amandine Hesse in straight units.
Polina Iatcenko was in prime type as she outplayed third seed Mei Yamaguchi of Japan. She is going to play German, Antonia Schmidt subsequent.
Within the doubles semifinals, Shrivalli and Vaidehi will play the second-seeds Makarova and Ekaterina Reyngold.
The outcomes: Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Sahaja Yamalapalli 6-3, 6-3; Kristina Dmitruk bt Daria Kudashova 6-3, 6-0; Haruka Kaji (Jpn) bt Sohyun Park (Kor) 7-5, 6-1; Ikumi Yamazaki (Jpn) bt Amandine Hesse (Fra) 7-6(5), 6-3; Antonia Schmidt (Ger) bt Mariia Tkacheva 7-6(9), 6-2; Polina Iatcenko bt Mei Yamaguchi (Jpn) 6-2, 6-2; Zeel Desai bt Ankita Raina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Ekaterina Makarova bt Rinon Okuwaki (Jpn) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Doubles (quarterfinals): Polina Iatcenko & Mariia Tkacheva bt Riya Bhatia & Ekaterina Yashina 6-2, 6-1; Rinon Okuwaki & Michika Ozeki bt Kristina Dmitruk & Kira Pavlova 6-3, 6-2; Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Antonia Schmidt (Ger) & Clara Vlasselaer (Bel) 6-3, 6-4; Ekaterina Makarova & Ekaterina Reyngold bt Akanksha Nitture & Soha Sadiq 6-4, 6-3.
Printed – March 06, 2025 07:24 pm IST
