Top seed Lee no sweat into semi-final

Top seed Lee Hua-Chen from Chinese Taipei did not have to play at all as her opponent, Briton seventh seed Amy Askew could not play, so Lee won walk over in quarterfinal of an ITF Grade 3 tourney known as "Rajshahi International Junior Championships 2010" in Rajshahi, Bangladesh on Thursday (February 25, 2010).

Currently ranked at ITF 225, 16 years old Lee improved her performance in ITF Grade 3 tourney and she will appear in her first ever Grade 3 semi-final. Last year in Grade 3 tourneys at Rajshahi and Dhaka both here in Bangladesh, she finished as quarterfinalist back to back in 2 weeks. In the last four round, Lee will face the challenge from 15 years old Russian sixth seed Anna Tyulpa who bounced back from a set down to beat Thai qualifier Kamonwan Buayam 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Tyulpa is playing her 2nd Grade 3 tourney here after India last January when she finished in round 16. Tyulpa has a title so far at India Grade 5 last September and she became quarterfinalist three times at Grade 4 tourneys in Nonthaburi, Thailand and then back to back in Manila, Philippines in 2009.

Two other semi-finalists are Croat Donna Vekic and Sabina Sharipova from Uzbekistan. In the last eight round today, Vekic had difficulty in second set but she won 6-3, 7-6(4) over "Special Exempt" Yin Xianghong of China. Vekic is 13 years old rookie and last October she claimed her maiden title already at Manama Grade 5 in Bahrain. Meanwhile Sharipova who has been focusing more on pro tour, today she survived a challenging duel from Indian Ratnika Batra but Sharipova eventually came out as winner after she secured 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory. Her best result was being runner-up at Tashkent Grade 3 in April 2009.

In doubles, fourth seed pair of Indonesia, Bella Destriana/Cynthia Melita booked their ticket to final as they continued their winning streak. In quarterfinal, duo Destriana/Melita faced such stiff fight from Bhuvana Kalva/Mandy Wagemaker (India/Netherlands) but at last the Indonesian pair won 7-5, 6-4. Then in semi-final, Destriana/Melita eased past fifth seed pair Huang Huai-Hsuan/Sanae Ota (Chinese Taipei/Japan) 6-0, 6-1. In final, the Indonesian duet will play against third seed pair, Lee/Sharipova (Chinese Taipei/Uzbekistan) who outclassed wild card duo Nikki Luttikhuis/Maurien Rikkert from Netherlands 6-3, 6-1.

Singles - Quarterfinals

(1) LEE Hua-Chen (TPE) d. (7) Amy ASKEW (GBR) walk over

(6) Anna TYULPA (RUS) d. (Q) Kamonwan BUAYAM (THA) 26 61 62

Donna VEKIC (CRO) d. (SE) YIN Xianghong (CHN) 63 76(4)

Sabina Sharipova (UZB) d. Ratnika Batra (IND) 62 36 60


Doubles - Quarterfinals

(WC) LUTTIKHUIS/RIKKERT (NED) defeated (7) IP/PATRIMONIO (HKG/PHI) 60 57 (10-6)

(3) LEE/SHARIPOVA (TPE/UZB) defeated DENG/OU (CHN) 61 46 (10-7)

(4) DESTRIANA/MELITA (INA) defeated KALVA/WAGEMAKER (IND/NED) 75 64

(5) HUANG/OTA (TPE/JPN) defeated ASKEW/ASKEW (GBR) walk over

Doubles - Semi-finals

(3) LEE/SHARIPOVA (TPE/UZB) defeated (WC) LUTTIKHUIS/RIKKERT (NED) 63 61

(4) DESTRIANA/MELITA (INA) defeated (5) HUANG/OTA (TPE/JPN) 60 61