Second seed Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman yet again had to rally from behind en route to the semi-finals of the Zuari Garden City ITF Women's tennis tournament here Thursday.
Playing seventh seed Nidhi Chilumula, Nabhani went down rather tamely in the first set 3-6. As in the previous round, she raised the level of her game in the second to win 6-4. The decider became a one-sided affair as the Omani vented her wrath on Chilumula, winning the set at love.
Local lass Sharmadaa Baluu lost to fifth seed Ching-Wen Hsu of Chinese Taipei 4-6, 4-6. The unseeded player, who showed a lot of character in defeating third seed Natasha Palah in the first round, was found wanting on her serves.
In the first set, Baluu was broken in the first and third games. She did pull back a game when she broke her opponent in the sixth but it was not enough to stop the fifth seed from pocketing the set.
The first three games of the second set saw the players trading serves and Sharmadaa again pulled one back but the result was the same.
Top seed Prarthana Thombare started off sluggishly but came into her own to record a straight sets victory over unseeded Sai Samhitha Chamarthi while fourth seed Rishika Sunkara had the easiest outing of all, recording a 6-1, 6-3 verdict over Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy.
The third seeded Indo-Chinese Taipei pair of Natasha Palah and Ching-Wen Hsu ousted top seeded Indo-Omani pair of Rishika Sunkara and Fatma Al Nabhani in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to move into the final of doubles.
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Nabhani was impeded by blisters on her playing hand and was forced to play with a plaster on her palm.
The second seeded Indian pair of Sharmadaa Baluu and Prarthana Thombre earned the right to meet the third seeds the final by virtue of their 6-1, 6-2 victory over fourth seeds Rutuja Bhosale and Nidhi Chilumula of India.
Results:
Singles (Quarter-finals): 4-Rishika Sunkara bt Sri Vaishnavi Pedi Reddy 6-1, 6-3; 5-Ching-Wen Hsu (Tpe) bt Sharmadaa Baluu 6-4, 6-4; 2-Fatma Al Nabhani (Oma) bt 7-Nidhi Chilumula 3-6, 6-4, 6-0; 1-Prarthana Thombre bt Sai Samhitha Chamarthi 7-5, 6-2.
Doubles (Semi-finals): 3-Ching-Wen Hsu (Tpe)/Natasha Palah bt 1-Rishika Sunkara (Ind)/Fatma Al Nabhani (Oma) 6-3, 6-3; 2-Sharmada Baluu/Prarthana Thombare bt 4-Nidhi Chilumula/Rutuja Bhosale 6-1, 6-2.