JOIN USSecond seed Nidhi Chilumula was shocked 4-6, 1-6 by Sharmada Balu in the opening round of Ten Sports $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at the DLTA complex here on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old Bangalore-based Balu needed just over an hour to dispatch Chilumula. She next plays Ho Ching Wu of Hong Kong.
Fifth-seeded Ankita Raina and seventh-seeded Rishika Sunkara were other two seeded players to exit in the first round.
Delhi girl Sunkara failed to put up a fight against S Peddi Reddy, losing 2-6, 2-6 while diminutive Shweta Rana held her nerves to upset Raina 4-6, 6-7 (6-8). Veteran Rushmi Chakravarthi ran out of steam against talented Natasha Palha to lose 6-1, 2-6, 2-6 in a hard-fought match.
Results: Siyu Qin (Chn) bt P Venkatesha (Ind) 6-4, 6-2; Simran Kaur Sethi (Ind) bt Amrita Mukherjee (Ind) 6-2, 6-1; S Peddi Reddy (Ind) bt Rishi Sunkara (Ind) 6-2, 6-2; Ambika Pande (Ind) bt Arushi Jain (Ind) 6-0, 6-0; Shweta Rana (Ind) bt Ankita Raina (Ind) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Natasha Palha (Ind) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi (Ind) 1-6, 6-2, 6-2; Eetee Maheta (Ind) bt Casey Robinson (US) 6-3, 6-1; Evgeniya Svintsova (Rus) bt A Easwaramurthi (Ind) 6-3, 6-0; Ho CHing Wu (HK) bt bt Manya Nagpal (Ind) 6-2, 6-2; Sharmada Balu (Ind) bt Nidhi Chilumula (Ind) 6-4, 6-1.