Karman Kaur Thandi raised hopes of a knock out punch to top seed Nefisa Berberovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but was undone by a wrist injury that saw her retire in the third set in the pre-quarterfinals of the NECC $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana on Wednesday.
Nefisa led 4-6, 6-4, 2-0, having survived five break points in the first game of the decider, when the tall Karman retired after medical attention, unable to cope with a painful wrist.
National champion Shrivalli Bhamidipaty fought hard but was beaten in three sets by Nigina Abduraimova of Uzbekistan.
Vaidehi Chaudhari also put up a good performance against Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine before losing in straight sets.
The Indian challenge ended in singles, but the home players kept their hopes alive by progressing to the doubles quarterfinals.
The results (pre-quarterfinals):
Singles: Nefisa Berberovic (BIH) bt Karman Kaur Thandi 4-6, 6-4, 2-0 (retd.); Ekaterina Reyngold (Rus) bt Akiko Omae (Jpn) 6-1, 6-1; Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) bt Zhibek Kulambayeva (Kaz) 6-2, 6-3.
Valeriya Strakhova (Ukr) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 7-5, 6-4; Moyuka Uchijima (Jpn) bt Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3; Chihiro Muramatsu (Jpn) bt Farhat Aleen Qamar 6-2, 6-0; Nigina Abduraimova (Uzb) bt Shrivalli Bhamidipaty 6-4, 3-6, 6-2; Anna Danilina (Kaz) bt Misaki Matsuda (Jpn) 6-3, 7-6(7).
Doubles: Anna Danilina (Kaz) & Valeriya Strakhova (Ukr) bt Pooja Ingale & Ramya Natarajan 6-0, 6-4.
Sathwika Sama & Saumya Vig bt Sarah Pang (Sgp) & Arthi Muniyan 6-3, 6-0; Hiroko Kuwata (Jpn) & Rutuja Bhosale bt Vaidehi Chaudhari & Zeel Desai 7-6(3), 6-3.
Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) & Sowjanya Bavisetti bt Nidhi Chilumula & Snehal Mane 6-1, 6-2; Funa Kozaki & Misaki Matsuda (Jpn) bt Weronika Baszak (Pol) & Clara Vlasselaer (Bel) 6-1, 6-3; Akiko Omae & Moyuka Uchijima (Jpn) bt Naho Sato (Jpn) & Prarthana Thombare 6-7(1), 6-3, [10-2].
Jennifer Luikham & Mihika Yadav bt Humera Baharmus & Shrivalli Bhamidipaty 2-6, 6-3, [10-5].
Zhibek Kulambayeva (Kaz) & Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) bt Nigina Abduraimova (Uzb) & Ekaterina Reyngold (Rus) 6-3, 6-0 .
