Jennifer Luikham unleashed a sharp game to rip through the defence of Arthi Muniyan for a 6-3, 6-2 victory and qualify for the semifinals, with an undefeated record, from Group-A in the UTR Pro $25,000 women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Friday.
In the semifinals, Jennifer, who has made an impressive improvement in her overall game with a 17-week stint in Tunisia, will play Jagmeet Kaur Grewal.
The other semifinal will be between Akanksha Nitture and Suhitha Maruri. Akanksha beat Himaanshika Singh for the loss of three games in her last league match to remain unbeaten in her group.
Suhitha was equally impressive as she wound up with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Riya Uboveja and an undefeated record in Group-D.
The National junior champion Suhitha, who had beaten the National women’s finalist Sai Samhitha in the opening match, sustained the momentum with her energetic game and swift footwork.
The rest of the players who finished second to fifth in their groups will also go through positional matches to decide their final placing and win matching prize-money.
For most of the players who do not get enough matches, it is a splendid idea to have six matches in a week, with the champion to be rewarded with $3,600 and the 20th placing fetching $400.
The results: Group-A: Jennifer Luikham bt Arthi Muniyan 6-3, 6-2; Bela Tamhankar bt Sachi Sharma 7-5, 6-1.
Group-B: Akanksha Nitture bt Himaanshika Singh 6-0, 6-3.
Group-C: Kashish Bhatia bt Hitakamya Singh Narwal 6-3, 7-5; Yubrani Banerjee bt Riya Sachdeva 6-4, 6-2.
Group-D: Sai Samhitha bt Vanshika Chaudhary 6-3, 6-2; Suhitha Maruri bt Riya Uboveja 6-0, 6-1.
