Sport - Tennis   

Sania to take on Sheetal

By Nandakumar Marar

PUNE DEC. 1. Time for Sania Mirza to prove her credentials all over again, after the heart-warming performance in the $ 25,000 International Tennis Federation at Mumbai.

The Hyderabad youngster has been seeded fifth in the women's singles draw for the $ 10,000 ITF Women's Circuit event at Deccan Gymkhana, Pune, sponsored by National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) starting on Monday.

Her first round opponent is canny Sheetal Goutam, unseeded but capable of springing surprises, followed by a probable clash with in-form Isha Lakhani, given a wildcard, in the second round. Pune's Kartiki Bhat and Delhi's Sanaa Bhambri are the other two players given the benefit of wildcard entries into the 32-player main draw.

India's Rushmi Chakravarthi, ranked 388th, has been given the top billing in this tournament and placed in the top half of the draw. The road is rough, with experienced Archana Venkataraman and local girl Radhika Tulpule crossing her path.

Sonal Phadke is the third Indian to be considered worthy of a seeding, occupying the eighth spot. Five foreign players have taken the other five slots, led by Austria's Jennifer Schmidt (second seed).

Thailand's Suchanan Viratprasert gets another opportunity to pick up WTA points and prize money a week after playing beyond expectations to reach the singles semifinals at Mumbai. Six Indians have barged into the singles draw through the qualifiers on Sunday, alongwith Turkey's Perna Ozgen and Germany Varana Marie Beller.

The results (final qualifying): Women's singles: Geeta Manohar bt Shraddha Lodha 6-2, 6-4; Yamini Thukkaiandi bt Preeti Rao 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-4; Vishika Chetri wo Ferni Obeyami-Musa (Nigeria), Perna Ozgen (Turkey) bt Nandini Perumal 6-2, 6-2; Varana Marie Beller (Germany) bt Arti Venkataraman 6-1, 6-2; Lata Assudani bt Parul Goswami 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3; Iciri Rai bt Priyanka Mehta 6-2, 6-2; Krushmi Chedda bt Sonali Sanap 6-1, 6-1.

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