JOIN USTop seed Prerna Bhambri had to dig deep to quell the challenge of Karman Kaur Thandi to enter the quarterfinals of the RGUHS ITF Kalaburagi Open here on Wednesday.
In an intense battle, Bhambri just proved a notch better than Thandi to prevail 6-3, 7-6 (5).
The first set saw Karman make a few unforced errors that allowed Bhambri break her serve in the fourth game which was enough for her to claim the first set. The second set saw the rivals trade serves in the first two games and then began the struggle for supremacy that finally culminated in Bhambri winning the tie-breaker 7-5.
Third seed Druthi Tatachar became the first casualty of this event when she went down tamely to Thailand’s Tamachan Momkoonthod 6-2, 6-4.
Last week’s finalist Riya Bhatia, seeded 8th, also bowed out losing to unseeded Sai Samhitha Chamarthi 4-6, 2-6.
Results: (Prefix denotes seeding):
Singles (pre-quarterfinals, Indians unless mentioned): 1-Prerna Bhambri bt Karman Kaur Thandi 6-3, 7-6 (5); 6-Nidhi Chilumula bt Anusha Kondaveeti 6-2, 6-0; Tamachan Momkoonthod (Tha) bt 3-Druthi Tatachar Venugopal 6-2, 6-4; 2-Natasha Palha bt Shweta Rana 6-1, 6-2; 7-Eetee Maheta bt Sahan Shetty 6-1, 7-5; Sai Samhitha Chamarthi bt 8-Riya Bhatia 6-4, 6-2; 4-Prarthana Thombare bt Moulika Ram 6-2, 6-3; Aastha Dargude bt Sneha Padamata 6-4, 7-5.
Doubles (quarterfinals): 4-Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal / Karman Kaur Thandi bt Tamachan Momkoonthod (Tha) / Plobrung Plipuech (Tha) 6-2, 6-1; 2- Nidhi Chilumula / Eetee Maheta bt Sai Samhitha Chamarthi / Chun-Yan He (Chn) 6-1, 6-2; 3-Prerna Bhambri / Kanika Vaidya bt Abinikka Renganathan / Soha Sadiq 6-2, 6-2.