Indian girls have poor day in ITF tourney

Mumbai: Indian girls displayed poor form despite their higher rankings and were eliminated by lesser ranked foreign rivals in the quarter finals of the under 18 singles in the MSLTA ITF Juniors Tennis Tournament on Thursday.

Top seed Prarthana Thombare and second seed Kanika Vaidya of India were shown the exit door by qualifier Carol Argentine-Benito of Spain and Turkey`s sixth seed Seda Arantekin, respectively, here. Thombare, ranked 228th among juniors, was thrashed 6-3 6-2 by her Spanish rival, who is ranked a distant 935 while Vaidya, ranked 259, was beaten 7-6 (4) 6-3 by Arantekin, who is 365th on the ITF computer. Another Indian casualty was fifth seed Shweta Rana, ranked 344th, who was dumped by Turkey`s 507th ranked Eraydin Basak 6-3 7-5. The lone Indian girl who would figure in the semis, was qualifier Tahera Bhatti, well outside 1200 in the rankings. She shocked third seed Nova Patel, ranked 289, 6-3 6-4. The boys` under 18 singles did not produce any surprises barring the elimination of third seed Vinod Gowda, who retired when trailing 6-7 (4) 1-4 against unseeded Indian compatriot Vishwesh Sinha. Top seed Rakshay Thakkar, second seed Arjun Kadhe and fourth seed Rishabdev Raman, all from the host nation, took their appointed places in the last four. Results (all quarter finals) Boys u-18 singles: 1-Rakshay Thkkar (Ind) bt 7-Shaikh Abdullah (Ind) 6-4 7-5; Vishwesh Sinha (Ind) bt 3-Vinod Gowda (Ind) 7-6 (4) 4-1 (retd.); 4-Rishabdev Raman (Ind) bt 6-Tom Hill (Brit) 6-1 6-1; 2-Arjun Kadhe (Ind) bt Rohan Bhatia 6-4 6-0. Girls u-18 singles: Carol Argentine-Benito (Spn) bt 1-Prarthana Thombare (Ind) 6-3 6-2; Eraydin Basak (Tur) bt 5-Shweta Rana (Ind) 6-3 7-5; Tahera Bhatti (Ind) bt 3-Nova Patel (Ind) 6-3 6-4; 6-Seda Arantekin (Tur) bt 2-Kanika Vaidya (Ind) 7-6 (4) 6-3. PTI