INQUIRER Sports

KOREAN YOO MI ENDED FIL-American Riza Zalameda?s campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph even as Han Sung-hee also prevailed to raise the possibility of another all-Korea finals in the PLDT-Smart ITF women?s tennis championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Yoo, seeded fourth, refused to buckle under Zalameda?s power game, patiently engaged the former Southeast Asian Games gold winner in long rallies from the baseline to win and set a semifinal game against Chinese fifth seed Liu Shaozhou.

Liu, who made the quarterfinals last week but bowed to eventual week 1 champion Lee Ye-Ra in the semis, 6-4, 6-4, stunned French top seed Elodie Rogge-Dietrich, 7-5, 6-4.

The seventh-seeded Han ousted the second seed Lee who quit after suffering a pulled muscle in her right calf while trailing 3-4 in the first set.

Han will take on Thai 8th seed Nicha Lertpitaksinchai, who eliminated Japanese third seed Mari Inoue, 7-6 (2), 6-2, in the event supported by PLDT-Smart, Holcim, Phinma and ITF Grandslam Development Fund.

?She played tough, I wasn?t hitting my best shot,? said the 23-year-old Zalameda who bagged the mixed doubles crown in the 2005 SEAG with Eric Taino.