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Rediff.com  » Sports » Unseeded Ukrainian qualifier in final

Unseeded Ukrainian qualifier in final

December 06, 2002 17:58 IST
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Unseeded Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko is in line for a grand double in the $10,000 NECC-ITF women's tournament.

At the Deccan Gymkhana in Pune on Friday, the 16-year-old won the doubles crown, partnering gangling six-footer Akgul Ananmuradova of Uzbekistan, and also stormed into the singles final, beating German qualifier Verana Marie Beller 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals.

In the doubles final,  Bondarenko and Ananmuradova beat Sania Mirza and Radhika Tulpule 6-3, 7-6 (1).

In the other semi-final, fifth seed Ipeak Senoglu of Turkey shocked second seed Jennifer Schmidt of Austria in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, in just 55 minutes to make it to the first final of her career.

Ipeak had lost to top seed Tzipi Oblziller in the second leg of the circuit in Mumbai last week.

Coming from a family of tennis players, Kateryna squashed the challenge of Marie Beller in 65 minutes. She made it into the final through an arduous route, bagging the prized scalps of three Indians -- Geeta Manohar, last year's Indian Masters winner Ankita Bhambri and title-holder and local challenger Radhika Tulpule.

"Win at all costs is the buzz word I kept before my eyes. To keep the ball in play all the time was the other factor that turned in my favour,'' Kateryna said after making it to the final.

A visibly-tired Varana Marie Beller, who has played a total of 12 matches in just 42 days in Mumbai and the present ITF circuit, said, "I tried my level best but tiredness ultimately caught up with me."

The German qualifier had recorded straight set wins over Neri Natalie of Great Britain, fifth-seed Sonal Phadke and Akgul Amanmuradov to enter the semi-finals.

Contrary to expectations, the clash between second-seed Jennifer Schmidt and fifth-seed Ipek Senoglu turned out to be a damp squib with Schmidt, the most experienced in this tournament, going down rather tamely.

The 23-year-old Turkish star Ipek Senoglu played the match to a plan. She broke Schmidt's serve in the seventh and ninth games to win the first set and, despite dropping her serve in the third game, broke back immediately in the sixth and ninth games to wrap up the set and match 6-3, 6-2.

"I took full advantage of a lot of unforced errors made by Jennifer and on my part tried to keep the ball in play to force her to commit mistakes," the Turkish challenger said. "I now now plan to play more professional tennis in future."

Results:

Singles (semi-finals): Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Varana Marie Beller (Germany) 6-2, 6-4; Ipek Senoglu (Turkey) beat Jennifer Schmidt (Austria) 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles (final): Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) and Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) beat Sania Mirza (Ind) and Radhika Tulpule (Ind) 6-3, 7-6 (1).

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