Nirupama in last eight

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15: India No 1 Nirupama Vaidyanathan stormed into the last eight of the $25,000 ITF Women's Tennis Championship defeat...

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15: India No 1 Nirupama Vaidyanathan stormed into the last eight of the $25,000 ITF Women’s Tennis Championship defeating Marina Caiazzo (France) 6-1, 6-3 while Archana Venkataraman lost to second seed Katalin Marosi 2-6, 0-6.

Nirupama looked untroubled, despite being broken once in the second set — at 4-0 up. Marina had nine double faults to Nirupama’s nil.

Nirupama’s doubles partner, top-seeded Italian Tathiana Garbin, allowed Hong Kong No 1 Ka-Po Tong 6-1, 6-2. Garbin, a good volleyer, played mature tennis from the baseline.

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The Indian and the Italian later teamed up to beat Wynne Prakusya/Rika Fujiwara 6-3, 6-2. The only time the two seemed out of sync was when a mixed call led to Tathiana’s nose getting in the way of Nirupama’s racquet.

Prakusya kept holding her stomach during the match. She later said that she felt a little odd as she hadn’t eaten anything in a while. She had only half an hour between her singles and doubles matches and she said there was no time to eat and to rest. She plays Nirupama in the singles on Thursday.

RESULTS

Singles (pre-quarters): Ju-Yeon Choi (Korea) bt Anna Nefedova (Russia) 6-3, 6-1, 3-Lucie Ahl (Great Britain) bt Eun-Young Ha (Korea) 7-5, 6-4, Abigail Tordoff (Great Britain) bt 7-Lorna Woodroffe (Great Britain) 6-2, 6-3, 5-Rika Hiraki (Japan) bt Rika Fujiwara (Japan) 7-6 (7-6), 7-5, 6-Nirupama Vaidyanathan (India) bt Marina Caiazzo (France) 6-1, 6-3, 2-Katalin Marosi (Hungary) bt Archana Venkataraman (India) 6-2, 6-0; 4-Wynne Prakusya (Indonesia) bt Urska Vesenjak (Slovakia) 6-4, 6-2; 1-Tathiana Garbin (Italy) bt Ka-Po Tong (Hong Kong) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles (quarters): Helen Crook/Victoria Davies (Great Britain) bt Katarina Daskovic/Riei Otakeyama (Yugoslavia/Japan) 7-5, 7-5, Katalin Marosi/Benjamas Sangram (Hungary/Thailand) bt Katalin Miskloczi/Tzu-Ting Weng (Hungary/Taipei) 6-1, 6-3, Tathiana Garbin/Nirupama Vaidyanathan (Italy/India) bt Rika Fujiwara/Wynne Prakusya (Japan/Indonesia) 6-3, 6-2, Rika Hiraki/Lorna Woodroffe (Japan/Great Britain) bt Ju-Yeon Choi/Eun-Young Ha (Korea)

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Quarter-final line-up: 1-Tathiana Garbin (Italy) vs Abigail Tordoff (Great Britain), 3-Lucie Ahl (Great Britain) vs 5-Rika Hiraki (Japan), 6-Nirupama Vaidyanathan (India) vs 4-Wynne Prakusya (Indonesia), Ju-Yeon Choi (Korea) vs 2-Katalin Marosi (Hungary)