Prija, Lakhani, Tara advance in Kerala Open

Thiruvananthapuram, May 16 (UNI) India's Parija Maloo upset sixth seed Cassandra Barr of Australia to advance into the quarter final of the 25,000 dollar Kerala Open international Women's Tennis tournament at the TTC courts here today.

On a day of mixed fortunes for India, Tara and title aspirant Isha Lakhani also moved into the last eight along with Agnes Szatmari of Romania, Albanese Lauren of the US, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, Viratprasert Suchanun of Thailand and Marinne Giraud of Mauritius.

In a two-hour marathon encounter, Parija handed Barr a 7-6(2), 5-7 and 6-4 defeat, bouncing back after losing the second set.

The Australian girl put up a spirited fight in the first set. But Maloo with a fine display won 7-6 (7-2) forcing tie break. However, a determined Barr came back into the match and walked away with the second set 7-5.

In the deciding game, however, Maloo turned the game in her favour and won the set and the match at 6-4.

Except in the first set, Rushmi Chakravarthi did not pose any threat to Isha, who won 7-5, 6-2.

While top seed Szatmari won a 6-2, 6-1 over India's Madura Ranganthan to enter the quarter-final, second seed Albanese won 6-1, 6-1 against Clerico Nicole of Italy.

In another singles second round match, fifth seed Viratprasert beat Solanki of India conceding one point. She won 6-1, 6-0.

Third seed Wickmayer and seventh seed Giraud also reserved their place in the last eight without much effort. The former won 6-0, 6-2 over Mortello Giorgia of Italy and Girand defeated Meghha Vakaria of India 6-1, 6-1, respectively.

UNI