Third-seeded Rishika Sunkara entered the title round defeating Prarthana Thombare 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinals of NBCC ITF women’s $10,000 tennis tournament at the BTA Complex here on Friday.
The Indian’s opponent in the final will be unseeded Katherine Ip of Hong Kong, who downed eighth-seeded Shweta Rana in the other semifinal.
Rishika, who had a shaky start, trailed Prarthana 3-5 in the first set. The former turned things around from this point winning four games on the trot to win the set 7-5 and won the next 6-1.
Katherine Ip was rewarded for her consistency as she forced Shweta to make errors and won in straight sets.
Later, Rishika teamed up with Rutuja Bhosale, also of India, to beat the combination of Prarthana and Nidhi Chilumula in straight sets.
Rishika and Rutuja will take on Kyra Shroff and Aranxta Andrady in the doubles final.
The results (all Indians unless specified):
Singles: Semifinals: Katherine IP (Hkg) bt Shweta Rana 7-6(7-4), 6-1; Rishika Sunkara bt Prarthana Thombare 7-5, 6-1.
Doubles: Semifinals: Rishika Sunkara & Rutuja Bhosale bt Prarthana Thomabre & Nidhi Chilumula 6-3, 6-4; Kyra Shroff & Aranxta Andrady bt Anushka Brargava & Bhuvana Kalva 6-4, 6-2.
