In women’s action, Maharashtra’s unseeded Isha Lakhani defeated third seed Shweta Rana from HP 6-2, 6-1 to enter the quarterfinals. Top seed Sheetal Goutham of Karnataka beat Delhi’s Arantxa Andrady 7-5, 6-4 and will meet Goa’s sixth seed Natasha Palha for a place in the semis while second seed Shivika Burman of Bengal edged out Eetee Mehta of Gujarat 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
The 27-year-old Sipaeya, returning to competitive tennis after an 18-month injury lay-off, was cautious and tentative in his approach against the hard-hitting Sagar Ahuja of Maharashtra but possessed enough arsenal to win 7-5, 6-3.
The 17-year-old Khade, on the other hand, was keen to test his wares and took his chances against seventh seed Kunal Anand of Delhi to prevail 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 with attacking tennis.
Published 02 February 2011, 16:12 IST