Ankita, Prarthana in women's tennis second round

Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombare entered the second round of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) women's $25,000 tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana here Tuesday.

Raina beat compatriot Rutuja Bhosale 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6) while Prarthana Thombare defeated Katarzyna Kawa of Poland 6-2, 6-1.

But the highlight of the day was the valiant fight of Mihika Yadav, who went down fighting 5-7,5-7 against Ukraine's Veronika Kepshay.

In other action, top seed Anastasiya Vasylyeva of Ukraine thrashed wildcard Indian Sharmadaa Baluu 6-1, 6-0 and the third seed Sofia Shapatova of Georgia defeated Natela Dzalamidze of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Qualifier Cristina Ene of Romania caused the major upset of the day when she beat the second seed Cindy Burder of the Netherlands in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

Results:

First Round: Q-Cristina Ene (Rou) bt Cindy Burger (Ned) 6-4, 6-3; Veronika Kepshay (Ukr) bt Mihika Yadav (Ind) 7-5, 7-5; Anastasiya Vasylyeva (Ukr) bt WC-Sharmadaa Baluu (Ind) 6-1, 6-0; Nina Stojanovic (Srb) bt Natela Dzalamidze (Rus) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Sofia Shapatava (Geo) bt Silvia Njiric (Cro) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Ankita Raina (Ind) bt Rutuja Bhosale (Ind) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6); Margarita Lazareva (Rus) bt Alyona Sotnikova (Ukr) 6-4, 6-4; Prarthana Thombare (Ind) bt Katarzyna Kawa (Pol) 6-2, 6-1.