The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Ankita, Choptang in title round

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 11, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Ankita, Choptang in title round

By Amitabha Das Sharma

KOLKATA, DEC. 10. Second seed Ankita Bhambri set up a title clash against sixth-seeded Wiliwan Choptang of Thailand in the Tata Steel-ITF $10,000 women's circuit. In the first semifinal here on Friday Ankita prevailed over her younger sibling, fifth-seeded Sanaa, 6-3, 6-3 while Choptang defeated eighth-seeded Isha Lakhani 7-5, 6-4.

Both the singles finalists also set themselves for a prospective double crown moving into the finals of the doubles event too. Choptang along with Shruti Dhawan, as the fourth seeds, toppled the top seeded Indian pair of Rushmi Chakravarthi and Sai Jayalakshmi Jayaram while the Bhambri sisters made short work of the unseeded Vandana Murali and Madhura Ranganathan.

The match between the Bhambri sisters was a short one. Ankita raced to a 5-0 in the first set before Sanaa woke up to tidy up her game a bit. But even winning three games on the trot was not enough for Sanaa as Ankita, who had an extra break, held serve in the ninth to annex the set.

In the Sanaa tried harder to get back into the game. But Ankita again broke Sanaa first. Sanaa had a chance of breaking back in the sixth but messed it up. Ankita broke again in the ninth to take the match.

The results (all Indians unless specified): semifinals: Singles: 6-Wiliwan Choptang (Tha) bt 8-Isha Lakhani 7-5, 6-4; 2-Ankita Bhambri bt 5-Sanaa Bhambri 6-3, 6-3. Doubles: 4-Wiliwan Choptang (Tha) & Shruti Dhawan bt 1-Rushmi Chakravarthi & Sai-Jayalakshmi Jayaram 6-3, 6-3; 2-Ankita Bhambri & Sanaa Bhambri bt Vandana Murali & Madhura Ranganathan 6-1, 6-1.

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