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Asian Games: Bhambri, Sanam, Ankita reach last 16

Incheon: Indian tennis players Yuki Bhambri, Sanam Singh and Ankita Raina reached the pre-quarterfinals in their respective categories at the 17th Asian Games here Thursday.Men's singles fourth seed Bhambri had little difficulty in disposing off

asian games bhambri sanam ankita reach last 16 asian games bhambri sanam ankita reach last 16

Incheon: Indian tennis players Yuki Bhambri, Sanam Singh and Ankita Raina reached the pre-quarterfinals in their respective categories at the 17th Asian Games here Thursday.

Men's singles fourth seed Bhambri had little difficulty in disposing off Jabor Mohammed Ali Mutawa, beating the Qatari player 6-1, 6-0 in 54 minutes at the Yeorumul Tennis Courts.

Bhambri, who in the absence of defending Asiad champion Somdev Devvarman, is the top-seeded Indian, will face 13th seeded Indonesian Christopher Benjamin Rungkat in the next round.

Sanam strolled to a 6-1, 6-2 straight sets win over Abdulhameed Alshatti in just 48 minutes to book his place in the pre-quarters.

The 10th seeded Indian took just 25 minutes to finish the first set 6-1 and was just as ruthless in the second, winning 6-2 in 21 minutes. Sanam will take on sixth seeded South Korean Hyeon Chung in the pre-quarters.

Meanwhile, Ankita registered an even more dominating win as she thrashed Gotov Dulguunjargal 6-0, 6-0 in just 24 minutes. Ankita, seeded 12th, will now take on Japanese sixth seed Eri Hozumi.

In men's doubles action, Sanam joined hands with Saketh Myneni to beat local players Nam Jisung and Cho Minhyeok 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and three minutes to proceed to the pre-quarters.

In mixed doubles, Ankita partnered Divij Sharan to advance to the last 16 by defeating Turkmenistan combine Anastasiya Prenko and Isa Mammetgulyyev 6-4, 6-1 in 52 minutes.

However, it was the end of the road for Shweta Rana and Rishika Sunkara in women's doubles as they lost their second round match 1-6, 4-6 to Japan's Hozumi Eri and Aoyama Shuko in an hour and five minutes.