Isha Lakhani is the sole Indian survivor at the singles semi-final stage in the US $25,000 NECC-ITF Women's Tennis Tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana courts in Pune on Thursday.
The left-handed Mumbai player, seeded eighth, ousted former national champion and doubles partner Rushmi Chakravarthy 6-1, 6-1 with consummate ease to move into the last four.
Joining Isha in the semi-finals were second seed Sandy Gumulya of Indonesia, unseeded Ling Zhang of Hong Kong and Alexandra Panova of Russia.
The Indian challenge ended in the doubles event with the elimination of the Bhambri sisters, Sanna and Ankita, the Rushmi-Isha pair and the combine of Sonal Phadke and Poojashree Venkatesha in the quarter- finals.
The unseeded Indonesian pair Wynne Prakusya and Angelique Widjaja shocked top seeds Neha Uberoi of the United States and Silvia Disderi of Italy 6-1, 7-5 to enter the doubles semi-finals.
Results:
Singles (quarter-finals): Zhang Ling (HKG) bt Kyung Yee Chae (Kor) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Isha Lakhani (Ind) bt Rushmi Chakravarthy (Ind) 6-1, 6-1; Alexendra Panova (Rus) bt Alexendra Kolesnichenko (Uzb) 6-3, 6-2; Sandy Gumulya (Ind) bt Silvia Disderi (Italy) 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles (quarter-finals): Wynne Prakusya-Angelique Widjaja (Ina) bt Neha Uberoi (USA)-Silvia Disderi (italy) 6-1, 7-5; Kyung-Yee Chae-Jung-Yoon Shin (Korea) bt Ankita Bhambri-sanaa Bhambri (Ind) 6-3, 4-6, 10-8; Varatchaya Wongteanchal (Thai)-Ling Zhang (Hong Kong) bt Rushmi Chakravarthy (Ind)-Isha Lakhani (Ind) 7-6 (7-0), 6-3; Nina Bratchikova (Rus)-Sandy Gumulya (Ina) bt Sonal Phadke-Poojashree Venkatesha (Ind) 6-2, 6-1.
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