Sharmada stuns Ayumi

Indian qualifier ousts fourth seed in first round

On the opening day of action at the PET Tennis stadium, the unseeded Indian who came through the qualifiers was simply unstoppable as she dropped just one game on her way to a commanding 6-1, 6-0 victory.

Also crashing out at the first hurdle was Sakiko Shimizu of Japan, the sixth seed, sent packing 6-2, 6-4 by Anna Shkudun of Ukraine.

While only four singles matches were gone through on day one, there was a full complement of first-round doubles matches, with all four seeded pairs easily making it through to the quarterfinals.

First-round results (prefix number denotes seeding): Women’s singles: Trang Huynh Phuong Dai (Vie) bt Ratnika Batra (Ind) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Anna Shkudun (Ukr) bt 6-Sakiko Shimizu (Jpn) 6-2, 6-4; Nidhi Chilumula (Ind) bt Vasundara Raju 6-2, 6-0; Sharmada Balu (Ind) bt 4-Ayumi Oka (Jpn) 6-1, 6-0.

Women’s doubles: 1-Anastasiya Vasylyeva (Ukr)/Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) bt Prathana Pratap/Prerana Prathap (Ind) 6-1, 6-1; Kei Sekine/Sakiko Shimizu (Jpn) bt Volha Kalodzitsa (Blr)/Anna Shkudun (Ukr) 6-2, 0-6, 10-6; 3-Luksika Kumkhum/V Wongteanchai (Tha) bt Amala Amol Warrick/Tanisha Rohira (Ind) 6-0, 6-1; Peangthan Pliphuech/Nungnadda Wannasuk (Tha) bt Anna Rapoport (Rus)/Margarita-Greta Skripnik (Isr) 6-2, 6-3; Shivika Burman (Ind)/Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt Ilge Alpay/Natasha Starling (GBR) 5-7, 7-5, 10-5; 4-Rushmi Chakravarthi/Poojashree Venkatesha (Ind) bt Parija Maloo/Sagarika Phadke (Ind) 7-5, 6-0; Trang Huynh Phuong Dai (Vie)/Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (Tha) bt Ankita Raina/Ashvarya Shrivastava (Ind) 6-2, 6-2; 2-Mari Inoue/Ayumi Oka (Jpn) bt Prerna Bhambri/Archana Venkataraman 6-0, 7-6 (7-4).