Karman Kaur Thandi defeated Rifanty Khafiany of Indonesia 6-1, 7-5 to make the under-16 girls’ final of the WTA future stars junior tennis tournament at the Kallang Tennis Centre in Singapore on Sunday.
In the final Karman will be challenged by Hsiang-Wen Huang of Chinese Taipei.
Incidentally, Karman had beaten the Taipei girl in the last league match on Sunday, rather comfortably at 6-1, 7-5.
“Karman had a quick first set, as Rifanty could not find her rhythm. In the second set, Rifanty was up 4-2 before Karman got her act together to pull through.
“The Taipei girl whom Karman plays in the final is a steady player. If Karman is patient and picks her shots, she will be able to win tomorrow,” said coach Rushmi Chakravarthi.
While Karman topped her group, winning all her five league matches, the second-placed Hsiang-Wen Huang beat the other group topper, Eri Shimuzu of Japan 7-5, 2-6, 10-3 in the semifinals.
In the under-14 section, Mahak Jain was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by Yuki Ando of Japan in the semifinals.
The results: Under-16 (semifinals): Hsiang-Wen Huang (Tpe) bt Eri Shimuzu (Jpn) 7-5, 2-6, 10-3; Karman Kaur Thandi bt Rifanty Khafiany (Ina) 6-1, 7-5.
League: Karman Kaur Thandi bt Hsiang-Wen Huang (Tpe) 6-3, 6-2.
Under-14 (semifinals): Yuki Ando (Jpn) bt Mahak Jain 6-3, 6-1; Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) bt Zhouma Ni Ma (Chn) 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-2.
League: Mahak Jain bt Thu Uyen Dao (Vie) 6-1, 6-0.