Lakhani, Sanaa in ITF semifinal

New Delhi: India`s Isha Lakhani advanced to the semifinal of the women`s International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament with a 6-2, 6-4 win over compatriot Parija Maloo at the DLTA.

Sixth seeded Lakhani, who is coming back from an injury lay-off, will next face top seeded Briton Emily Webley-Smith. A shoulder injury had kept left-handed Lakhani out of the circuit. Lakhani, who lost in the second round of the ITF here in May while playing with the injury, seems to have recovered well. Emily dispatched Indian Rishika Sunkara 6-2, 6-2.In the other semifinal, fifth-seeded Sanaa Bhambri will take on Uzbekistan`s Alexandra Kolesnichenko. Bhambri got past compatriot Parul Goswami 6-2, 6-0 while the Uzbek prevailed over giant-killer Slovak Dalila Japukovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in a tough duel. Jakupovic though made up for the loss by reaching the doubles final with Indian partner Ashmitha Easwaramurthi. The duo defeated Parul Goswami and Vietnam`s Huynh Phuong Dai 6-0, 0-6, (10-6). In the final, they will clash with the second seeded pair of Emily and Kolesnichenko, who got the better of Isha and Anastasia Malhotra of Japan 3-6, 6-2 (10-5). IANS