Chinese bets gain ITF U-14 second round

MANILA, Philippines—Chinese Li Yue Nv and Yan Qian Ting overpowered their respective rivals in yesterday’s rain-drenched start of the ITF Asia 14 and Under Development Championships–Division I Week 2 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center to cruise into the second round.

Li blanked Indonesia’s Aulia Rosma Pramudani, 6-0, 6-0, to set up a clash with the winner of the No. 15 Chen Tzu Hui of Chinese Taipei-Daria Sevchenko of Kazakhstan tiff.

Li, the top seed in Week One but was foiled by compatriot Cao Si Qi, 1-6, 1-6, for the girls’ title of the ITF Ranking event, is out to gain another title crack in this week-long tournament put up by the International Tennis Federation in cooperation with the Philippine Tennis Association.

The fourth-ranked Yan, on the other hand, walloped local bet Dominique Ong, 6-0, 6-1, to also advance against the victor between No. 13 Valeriya Popova of Uzbekistan and Yus Syazlin Yusri of Malaysia.

The tournament backed by the Philippine Tennis Academy, Mariposa Foundation, Dunlop Fort Balls, Magnolia Purewater and Century Park Hotel saw most of the matches delayed due to intermittent rains.

Fil-Am Meredith Jones, seeded 11th, was one game away from disposing of Choi Seo-In of Korea after leading 6-4, 5-0, before rains forced organizers to halt the match.

Also leading before the rain delays were No. 3 Pranjala Yadlapalli of India against PH’s Maia Bernadette Balce, 7-6 (2), 2-1; Rifanty Dwi Kahfiani of Indonesia over No. 16 Jacinta Yuan Sze Chen of Hong Kong, 6-3, 4-2; and Vanshika Swashney of India against Nurin Nabila Roslan of Malaysia, 6-3, 4-1.