Qualifier, unseeded players in ITF semis
November 20th, 2008 - 11:48 pm ICT by IANSKolkata, Nov 20 (IANS) Qualifier Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia and two unseeded players, Romanian Elora Dabija and Australian Sophie Ferguson, moved into the semifinal of the Gujarat NRE Coke $50,000 ITF Women’s Challenger tournament here Thursday.Second seeded Ayumi Morita of Japan was the only player who did justice to her high rating to make it to the last four on the synthetic courts of the Bengal Tennis Association Complex.
The match of the day was between two unheralded players, Dabija and Thailand’s Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, that saw the former prevailing 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 after a fierce 193-minute fight.
Ferguson continued her dream run. After upsetting fourth seeded Agnes Szatmari in the pre-quarters, Ferguson beat the seventh seeded Ksenia Palkina of Kazakhstan in the quarters 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semifinals.
Jovanovski also advanced to the pre-summit round axing eighth seed Chine Taipei girl Kai-Chen Chang in 166 minutes 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2).
Morita, who has been in a superlative form, booked berth in the last four with a swift 6-2, 6-2 victory over Great Britan’s Emily-Smith Webley in a little over an hour.
Results of Matches played Thursday (Read Player, Status/Seed, Country, ITF Ranking):
Singles Quarter Finals:
Elora Dabija (Rou)(433) beat Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (Tha)(384) 3-6,7-6(7-5),7-5; Sophie Ferguson (Aus)(308) beat Ksenia Palkina (7)(Kgz)(224) 0-6,6-1,6-4; Bojana Jovanovski (Q)(Srb)(561) beat Kai-Chen Chang (8)(Tpe)(232) 6-4,5-7,7-6(7-2); Ayumi Morita (2)(Jpn)(118) beat Emily Webley-Smith (!)(GBr)(475) beat 6-2,6-2
Doubles Semifinals: Jing-Jing Lu (Chn) & Sheng-Nan Sun (Chn)(1)(267) beat Sophie Ferguson (Aus) & Alexis Prousis (USA) 6-3,6-3; Laura Siegemund (Ger) & Agnes Szatmari (Rou)(3)(393) beat Chin-Wei Chan (Tpe) & Yi Chen (Tpe)(2)(328) 4-6,6-3,(10-6).
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Tags: ayumi morita, challenger tournament, emily smith, emily webley smith, great britan, gujarat nre coke, itf women, kai chen, match of the day, sophie ferguson
