Seeds have it easy in first qualifying round

There were no upsets recorded in the first qualifying round matches of the NECC-ITF women's $25,000 tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana courts as the seeds had a easy day here Saturday.

With the top four qualifying seeds getting a bye, Ukraine's fifth seed Anna Shkudun was the highest seed in action, and she didn't disappoint. The Ukraine girl eased past India's Sahan Shetty 6-1, 6-3.

Among Indians, Natasha Palha, Bhuvana Kalva, Sharmada Balu, Sai Samhita Chamarthi, Sowjanya Bavisetti, Sharon Sanchana Paul, Vaibhavi Trivedi won their respective matches to make it to the second and final qualifying round.

With top seed Rishika Sunkara having a first round bye, there will be eight Indians in action in the final qualifying round matches.

Vaibhavi Trivedi became the only un-seeded player to make it to the final qualifying round, as she dominated Amreen Naaz, also from India, 6-0, 6-1 in an hour.

All the 12 matches played on Saturday were two-setters, with Thailand's Kamonwan Buayam, seeded eighth scoring a 6-0, 6-0 win over India's Tanvi Bose.

There was disappointment for the lone local girl in action on Saturday, Anushka Sathe. The Pune girl had no answers to the power of 10th seed Sowjanya Bavisetti, as the latter prevailed 6-0, 6-2.

The final qualifying round matches would be played Sunday, with the main draw matches beginning Monday.

Results: Qualifying Round 1:

Vaibhavi Trivedi bt Amreen Naaz 6-0, 6-1;

Diana Bogoliy (UKR) bt Disha Satish Agarwal (Ind) 6-0, 6-3;

Sharon Sanchana Paul bt Sharmeen Rizvi 6-4, 6-1;

Sowjanya Bavisetti bt Anushka Sathe 6-0, 6-2;

Anna Shkudun (UKR) bt Sahan Shetty 6-1, 6-3;

Sai Samhitha Chamarthi bt Preethi Ujjini 6-1, 6-0;

Anna Smith (GBR) bt Amrita Mukherjee (Ind) 6-2, 6-0;

Sharmada Balu bt Abi Diana Sekar 6-1, 6-2;

Natasha Palha bt Bharati Bylapudi 6-1, 6-0;

Rika Fujiwara (JPN) bt M. Arthi 6-2, 6-1;

Kamonwan Buayam (THA) bt Tanvee Bose 6-0, 6-0;

Bhuvana Kalva bt Mahrukh Kokni 6-1, 6-1;