Hyderabad’s Sanjana Sirimalla punches big at ITF tourney

HYDERABAD: Telangana’s Sanjana Sirimalla ended runner-up in the girls singles of the World Ranking ITF Grade-4 tennis tournament held in Delhi. In Sunday’s final, Sanjana went down 4-6, 2-6 to Tararudee of Thailand.

Through the tournament, unseeded Sanjana punched above her weight to defeat seeds 4, 5 and 7. She was the only Indian to make the final cut as all other Indian players lost their matches in their first or second rounds.

Earlier in the semifinal, Sanjana had beaten fifth seed Salakthip Ounmuang of Thailand 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

The Results
Final: Sanjana Sirimalla lost to Tararudee (Thailand, 3) 4-6, 2-6. Semifinal: Sanjana bt Salakthip Ounmuang (Thailand, 5) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. Quarterfinal: Sanjana bt Chao-Yi Wang (Chinese Taipei, 7) 6-1, 6-4. Pre-quarterfinal: Sanjana bt Eva Gartseva (Russia, 4) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. First round: Sanjana bt Kirara Morioka (Japan) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.