ITF W35 Kalaburagi: Ankita Raina and Zeel Desai advance to 2nd round, but local favourite Soha bows out

India’s Ankita Raina and Zeel Desai advanced to the second round of the ITF W35 Kalaburagi with convincing first-round victories while Karnataka’s Soha Sadiq impressed briefly before bowing out, at the Chandrashekhar Patil Stadium on March 4.

Eighth seed Raina produced a composed display to defeat fellow Indian Sonal Patil 6-1, 6-3. Patil held serve in the opening game, but Raina quickly seized control, winning six consecutive games to wrap up the first set in a dominant fashion.

The second set followed a similar pattern as Raina raced to a 3-0 lead. Patil showed resilience by holding serve twice to stay in contention, and later reduced the deficit to 5-3 after Raina appeared set to close out the match at 5-2. However, the experienced Raina held her nerve in the next game to seal the victory and move into the second round.

Fifth seed Desai also progressed after a solid performance against fellow Indian Jennifer Luikham. Desai claimed the opening set 6-2 with steady baseline play and continued to dictate the rallies in the second set. Mixing delicate drop shots with powerful groundstrokes, she maintained control and eventually closed out the match 6-4 to secure her place in the next round.

Earlier, local favourite Sadiq thrilled the home crowd with a strong start against Singapore’s Eva Marie Desvignes, racing to a 4-0 lead in the opening set. However, Desvignes mounted an impressive comeback to take the set 7-5 before dominating the second set 6-0 to end the young Karnataka player’s campaign.

There was disappointment for another Indian as fourth seed Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty retired from her match against Evgeniya Burdina due to a medical condition.

Top seed Jasmijn Gimbrere advanced comfortably with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aishwarya Jadhav while sixth seed Thasaporn Naklo defeated Valeria Savinykh 6-3, 6-2. In other matches, Polina Kuharenko beat Akanksha Dileep Nitture 6-2, 6-1, Anna Sedyasheva overcame Sandeepthi Singh Rao 6-2, 6-4, and Elina Nepliy defeated Kashish Bhatia 6-0, 6-4.

In the doubles draw, India’s Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi partnered Japan’s Michika Ozeki to record a convincing 6-2, 6-3 win over Maayan Laron and Maria Mikhailova to enter the quarter-finals. Third seeds Desai and Nepliy progressed with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Sedyasheva and Sofia Suslova.

With Raina and Desai joining Vaishnavi Adkar in the second round, the competition at the ITF W35 Kalaburagi is expected to intensify in the coming rounds..