Mara Santangelo, Melinda Czink enter quarterfinals

Bangalore, Feb 15 (UNI) Top seed Mara Santangelo of Italy and Melinda Czink of Hungary entered the quarterfinals of the 175,000 Dollar Sony Ericsson International WTA Tennis Tournament here today.

Defending champion Santangelo struggled against Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan in the tie that went to full three sets after the Italian lost the first set 3-6 and found the going tough even in the second, before recovering to claim the last two sets at 7-5, 6-2 and make it to the next round.

''I was under pressure when Amanmuradova won the first set. I never thought she will finish the game. After winning the second set, I got confidence that I can make it and with determination I played and won the match,'' Santangelo (ranked 33) said in her post-match comments.

Czink, ranked 105, also had a tough time against her little known opponent Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei, losing the first set 4-6.

The second set saw Czink continuing to struggle and ultimately levelling the set score in the tie breaker. The decider again saw Su-Wei pushing her opponent relentlessly. But Czink won the set 7-5.

In the Doubles, third seed Ukrainian pair Yulia Beyoelzimer and Yuliana Fedak were ousted in the quarterfinals by Jarmila Gajdosova of Slovakia and Christina Horiatopoulos of Austria in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to enter the semifinals.

In another doubles match, top seed Taipei pair Yung-Jan Chan and Chia-Jung Chuang entered the last four stage, defeating Alberta Brianti of Italy and Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine 6-2, 4-6, 10-8.

Results: Singles: Melinda Czink (Hun) bt Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe) 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5; S1 Mara Santangelo (Ita) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Doubles (Quarterfinals) : S1 Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe)/Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) bt Alberta Brianti (Ita)/Mariya Koryttseva (Ukr) 6-2, 4-6, 10-8; Jarmila Gajdosova (Svk)/Christina Horiatopoulos (Aus) bt Yulia Beyoelzimer (Ukr)/Yuliana Fedak (Ukr).

UNI