NEW DELHI: Poojashree Venkatesh was too sharp and consistent for Paarul Goswami as she dismissed the third seed 6-2, 6-0 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Wednesday.

The 15-year-old Bangalore girl, perhaps the tallest in the Indian circuit at 5' 11'', did not waste much time as she exasperated the local girl with accurate strokeplay. When it came to finishing the easy put-aways or for that matter stretching for a passing shot down the line, Poojashree was quite up to the task.

Having played a string of matches in tough conditions in the Asia-Oceania Junior Fed Cup in Bangkok last week, Poojashree looked quite sharp and played a lot better than the time when she won the National under-18 and under-16 titles last year and a series of ITF junior titles thereafter.

Lack of confidence

Sandhya Nagaraj overcame a painful right upper arm to blow away Vandana Murali who seemed to lack confidence to make a meaningful challenge. Sandhya will be up against the top-seeded Rushmi Chakravarthi who was in ominous form in outplaying Parija Maloo.

Karishma Patel started off well for a 2-0 lead against the champion of last week, the fourth-seeded Zhao Yi-Jing, but the Chinese found her rhythm quickly to subdue the diminutive Indian.

Zhao will be next challenged by the athletic Sonal Phadke who snuffed the challenge from the free-stroking Sweta Kumari Solanki for the loss of five games. Sweta played an attractive brand of attacking game, but did not have the temperament to capitalise on her forceful strokes and a fast-improving serve.

Geeta Manohar stopped the dream run of Harsimran Kaur with a compact game but will have the unenviable task of locking horns with the second-seeded Song Shan-Shan of China in the quarterfinals.

The results: Singles (pre-quarterfinals, Indians unless specified): Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Parija Maloo 6-1, 6-3; Sandhya Nagaraj bt Vandana Murali 6-1, 6-3; Zhao Yi-Jing (Chn) bt Karishma Patel 6-2, 6-3; Sonal Phadke bt Sweta Kumari Solanki 6-2, 6-3; Archana Venkataraman bt Krushmi Chheda 6-3, 7-6 (4); Poojashree Venkatesh bt Paarul Goswami 6-2, 6-0; Geeta Manohar bt Harsimran Kaur 6-1, 6-2; Song Shan-Shan (Chn) bt Elizaveta Zaytseva (Rus) 6-1, 7-5.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Song Shan-Shan and Zhao Yi-Jing (Chn) bt Grace Hannah and Shalini Sahoo 6-0, 6-1; Tegan Edwards (RSA) and Sonal Phadke w.o. Asha Nandakumar and Varsha Shivshankar; Vishika Chhetri and Sandri Gangothri bt Paarul Goswami and Geeta Manohar 6-4, 7-5; Rushmi Chakravarthi and Archana Venkataraman bt Krushmi Chheda and Karishma Patel 6-1, 6-3.

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