Ayaka Okuno and Aldila Sutjiadi, the No.1 and 2 seeds respectively, from Japan and Indonesia were beaten fair and square by fitter Indian opponents in the girls' singles pre-quarterfinals of the Asian closed junior (under-18) tennis championships at the SDAT-Nungambakkam Stadium here on Wednesday.
While Rutuja Bhosale thumped Okuno 6-4, 6-3, Bhuvana Kalva outlasted Sutjiadi 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 35 minutes, with the burning afternoon sun for company.
Vikas Gowda, the boys' fourth seed, joined Okuno and Sutjiadi in the casualty lists, after he was shunted out by Yuki Muramatsu of Japan 6-1, 6-3.
Playing her first match at the Stadium — Bhosale had played her two earlier matches at the Presidency Club — she realised that Okuno was struggling to get rhythm on her forehand. Bhosale kept attacking the Japanese on her weaker flank. And it worked wonderfully.
“I was not expected to beat the top seed. I just attacked her forehand,” said the 15-year-old, coached by Sandeep Kirtane at the Deccan Gymkhana Club (Pune).
The match between Kalva and Sutjiadi played out like a pendulum. Both belted out some impressive winners from the backcourt and committed equally egregious mistakes. The humid conditions and heavy breeze didn't make shot-making any easier. The fitter and consistent player had to win and it was Kalva who was putting more balls in.
“This is easily my best win this year,” said Kalva, coached by the Australian Michael Baroch in Singapore.
The results (Indians unless otherwise mentioned): Pre-Quarterfinals: Boys: Gao Xin (Chn) bt Teeradon Tortrakul (Tha) 6-4, 6-2; Saurabh Sinha bt Karan Salwan 7-5, 6-1; Sahil Deshmukh bt Niranjan R Ram 7-5, 7-6(3); Abdullah Shaikh bt Saurabh Patil 7-5, 7-6(3); Yuki Muramatsu (Jpn) 6-1, 6-3; Vishwesh Sinha bt Siyu Liu (Chn) 6-1, 6-4; Vilasier Khate bt Nattan Benjasupawan (Tha) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Arjun Khade bt Ziad Sultan (Kuw) 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-1.
Girls: Rutuja Bhosale bt Ayaka Okuno (Jpn) 6-4, 6-3; Cheng-Wen Hsu (Tpe) bt Kanika Vaidya 6-4, 6-2; I.P. Katherine (Hkg) bt Kamowan Buayam (Tha) 5-2 (conceded); Bhuvana Kalva bt Aldila Sutjiadi (Ina) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3; Rimpledeep Kaur bt Tamitha Nguyen (Phi) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4; Ratnika Batra bt Sanae Ohta (Jpn) 6-3, 6-1; Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai (Tha) bt Aishwarya Agarwal 6-0, 7-5; Anna Clarice Patrimonio (Phi) bt Dina Karina (Ina) 7-6 (4), 6-0.
