Rishika Sunkara shocked top-seeded Eri Hozumi of Japan 7-6(2), 6-0 in the girls' quarterfinals of the Asian junior tennis championship at the R.K. Khanna Stadium here on Friday.
It was an impressive performance from the wiry Rishika. She first took a 2-0 lead and then kept her composure despite a string of breaks. Once she captured the first set, after taking a 5-1 lead in the tie-break, Rishika accelerated to the finish.
The 76th-ranked Hozumi made too many errors and was unable to win more than four points on Rishika's serve in the second set.
The 140th-ranked Rishika was quite pleased with her effort which assured her of 80 ITF ranking points.
This was much better than the 30 she had gained by qualifying for the Australian Open and winning a round in Melbourne earlier this season.
If she continues in the same vein, Rishika would fancy her chances in the semifinals against the ninth-seeded Miho Kowase of Japan.
The latter put out the champion of last week, Yang Zi of China, in three sets.
The other girls' semifinals will feature Chinese Zhu Lin against Tian Ran.
Rishika, partnering Nova Patel, lost to the top-seeded Chinese Zhu Lin and Tian Ran 4-6, 0-6 in the semifinals.
In the boys' event, the Indian challenge was limited to Vaidik Munshaw who got past Mansingh Athare in straight sets.
Enough lux
Meanwhile, the organisers released a note saying there was enough ‘lux' of light for the courts in the evening and it was not needed to switch on all floodlights.
Though there were more bulbs shedding light on Friday, the dark patches on court really stood out, particularly on ‘live' television.
It was clear that the organisers had missed the point completely, when they opted to write that “the conduct of this test event will bring out the exact requirements for media seats.”
If that be true, the media will require only five seats for the Commonwealth Games given the strength of the media covering this event!
The results (quarterfinals):
Boys: Chuhan Wang (Chn) bt Rakshay Thakkar 6-4, 6-1; Warit Sornbutnark (Tha) bt Sai Karthik 6-2, 6-1; Vaidik Munshaw bt Mansingh Athare 6-2, 6-3; Ouyang Bowen (Chn) bt Ronit Bisht 6-3, 6-0.
Girls: Rishika Sunkara bt Eri Hozumi (Jpn) 7-6(2), 6-0; Miho Kowase (Jpn) bt Yang Zi (Chn) 5-7, 6-2, 6-1; Zhu Lin (Chn) bt Miyu Kato (Jpn) 6-3, 6-2; Tian Ran (Chn) bt Sabina Sharipova (Uzb) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
