Aishwarya Jadhav and Sai Janvi stepped it up to help India beat Kazakhstan 2-1 in the quarterfinals and qualify for the World group competition in the Asia-Oceania World Juniors Tennis under-14 girls tournament at the DLTA Complex on Thursday.
The Indian girls played a gritty game to win both the singles against their technically superior opponents, Satima Toregen and Ariana Gogulina.
Sai Janvi overcame the early spell of errors to beat Satima 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to set up the stage for the host.
Aishwarya was not giving an inch away. Despite having been pushed to her limit in a duel that lasted three hours and 14 minutes against the Korean the previous day, she ran down every ball and made it uncomfortable for Ariana.
Better mobility and better strokes of the Kazakh proved inadequate against the fighting spirit and better temperament of Aishwarya who sailed to a straight forward 6-2, 6-3 victory, even though the contest lasted close to two hours.
In the semifinals, India will challenge the top team on view, Australia.
The results (quarterfinals):
Australia bt Thailand 2-1 (Emerson Jones bt Tarita Hongsyok 6-4, 6-2; Tahila Kokkinis bt Pornnpatt Hongjumradsin 6-1, 6-3; Diana Badalyan & Tahila Kokkinis lost to Tarita Hongsyok & Natrada Sakulvongtrana walkover).
India bt Kazakhstan 2-1 (Sai Janvi bt Satima Toregen 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Aishwarya Jadhav bt Ariana Gogulina 6-2, 6-3; Aishwarya & Sohini Mohanty lost to Yeva Korysheva & Satima Toregen walkover).
Korea bt Uzbekistan 2-0 (Lee Seo A bt Nigina Alimova 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-1; Lee Ha Eum bt Shahzoda-Bonu Artikbaeva 6-0, 6-4).
Japan bt Sri Lanka 2-0 (Rira Kosaka bt Oneli Samarawickrama 6-0, 6-0; Azuna Ichioka bt Dinara Veronica Marian De Silva 6-3, 6-0).
= = = EOM
