INQUIRER Sports

FOURTH-SEED LIU SHAOZHOU OF China overpowered Korean fourth seed Yoo Mi, 6-3, 6-3, even as Han Sung-Hee downed an ailing Nichai Lertpitaksinchai of Thailand, 6-3, 6-0, Friday to set up a singles final showdown in the PLDT-Smart ITF women?s tennis championships.

Liu, who last week bowed out in the quarterfinals, was firing from all angles against Yoo in the centercourt, blasting winners one after another to stun the Week 1 runner-up winner and take the match in one hour and 15 minutes.

Later in the afternoon, Korean seventh seed Han also made it to the finals after beating Lertpitakshinchai who decided to finish the game despite a bum stomach.

The 19-year-old Han, who finished off RP?s comebacking star Maricris Fernandez in the second round last week, took full advantage of the Thai?s slower reactions and weak returns to nail the victory.
Later, the Thai admitted that she was dizzy and losing strength but still went down fighting.

Now the world No. 610 Han gets a chance to give Korea the second singles title in the twin tournaments. Lee Ye-Ra bagged the title last week in an all-Korean championship.

But Han will be going against the world 468th ranked Liu, whose main weapon is her left-handed forehand and double-fisted backhand.

In the doubles event, Yoo and compatriot Han Na-Lae dispatched third seed Gally de Wael of Belgium and Elodie Rogge-Dietrich of France, 6-4, 6-3, to make the finals.

They will go against Filipina Czarina Mae Arevalo and partner Katharina Lehnert of Germany who walked over the injured Lee, and Kim Sun-Jung.

Meanwhile, sign-in for the qualifying for the Phinma International Juniors Week I will be held at 6 p.m. tonight at the Philta office, care of ITF referee Wannawit Srirasa.

The two-day qualifying rounds for the third ITF-sanctioned tournament will be tomorrow and Monday with the tournament proper firing off on Tuesday.