Soha Sadiq upset sixth seed Arthi Muniyan 6-3 6-1 in the qualifiers to enter the main draw of the USD 25,000 Endurance Aurangabad Open Women's ITF Tennis Championships here today.
Nungnadda Wannasuk of Thailand, Riya Bhatia, Nidhi Chilumula, former national champion Sai Samhita Chamarthi, junior Pranjala Yadlapalli, Amrita Mukherjee and Snehan Padmata were the other players to make the main draw commencing tomorrow.
As many as 14 Indians will feature in the main draw, including the seven qualifiers, four getting in as wild cards and three players gaining entries on the basis of their rankings.
However, they face tough challenge from higher ranked players Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine (246), Tadeja Majeric of Slovakia (269), Ayaka Okuno of Japan (289), Melanie Klaffner of Austria (298), Nudnida Luangnam of Thailand (340), Lou Brouleau of France (344) and Ching-Wen Hsu of Taipei (354).
Ankita Raina, ranked 320, is the lone Indian to be seeded (no.5 seed) in the main draw and a win here would propel her back into the top-250 ranking bracket.
Results (2nd qualifying round):
Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA) [1] bt Mahrukh Kokni (IND) 6-0 6-1; Riya Bhatia (IND) [2] bt Sahan Shetty (IND) 6-1 6-1; Nidhi Chilumula (IND) [3] bt Pareen Shivekar (IND) 6-1 6-1; Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND) [4] bt Jitasha Shastri M (IND) 6-1 6-4; Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) [5] bt Sindhu Janagam (IND) 6-2 6-2; Soha Sadiq (IND) bt Arthi Muniyan (IND) [6] 6-3 6-1; Amrita Mukherjee (IND) [7] bt Arushi Bhasin (IND) 6-1 6-3; Sneha Padamata (IND) [8] bt Aareyalee Chavan (IND) 6-3 6-2.
