SEPT 13 : Fifth seeded Indian Nidhi Chilumula gave a stiff resistance to fourth seeded Chinese Ao Gai before going down fighting in three firecely contested sets in the singles quarter-final round of the $ 10,000 ITF Women’s Tennis Tournament at Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) today.
After losing the first set at 4-6, Nidhi Chilmula hit back and snatched the second set in tie-breaker 7-6 (6) to level the score. The third and deciding set too was a touch-and-go affair as the players were tied six-all and the issue was resolved in tie-breaker with Gai just managing to pip Nidhi 7-7 (7) to clinch a berth in semi-final.
Another Indian Arantxa Andrady was beaten in the doubles semi-final contest. Arantxa partnered Jasmin Ladurner of Italy against top seeded Russian pair of Anna Morgina and Yana Sizikova. After one set all, the match tie-breaker rule broke the deadlock and the Russian pair emerged winners by 6-7(2) 6-2 [10-5].
Results: Singles (quarter-finals): Anna Morgina (RUS) [1] bt Michelle Sammons (RSA) [8] 4-6 6-1 6-1, Ao Gai (CHN) [4] bt Nidhi Chilumula (IND) [5] 6-4 6-7 (6) 7-6 (7), Ola Abou Zekry (EGY) [6] bt Giulia Bruzzone (ITA) [3] 6-2 6-3, Vojislava Lukic (SRB) bt Sara Ottomano (SUI) 6-1 6-1.