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Indian ace Sania Mirza stormed into the women's singles quarter-finals in the Asian tennis championships, routing Kamila Mirzaalimova of Uzbekistan 6-0, 6-0 at the Tashkent Tennis Centre on Thursday.
The victory earned the seventh seed a meeting with top seed Mi-Ra Jeon of Korea, who beat Kazakhstan's Amina Rakhim 6-3, 6-3 in another pre-quarter-final.
In the other women's quarter-finals, second seed Na Li of China plays sixth seed Chin Wei Chan of Taipei; fourth seed Ryoko Fuda of Japan is up against fifth seed Jin Hee Kim of Korea, and third seed Chia Jung Chuang of Taipei faces off against eighth seed Napaporn Tongsalee of Thailand.
But things did not work out as expected for another Indian.
Strong contender Sunil Kumar Sipaeya failed to make it to the last eight in the men's singles. The third seed was surprised by Kuwait's Muhammad Al Ghareeb. The unseeded Kuwaiti won a cliff-hanger 7-6(14), 7-5 and then proceeded to demolish Bhee Witoonpanich of Thailand 6-1, 6-1 in the pre-quarter-finals.
Ghareeb, who trains under a Swedish coach, proved Sipaeya's nemesis in the men's doubles too as he teamed with Abdullah Magdas to stun Sipaeya and Vishal Uppal, the second seeds, 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6 (5).
In another singles match, Uzbek qualifier Dmitry Mazur gave himself the perfect birthday present, packing off fourth seeded Ti Chen of Chinese Taipei in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals. He won 6-3, 6-2.
In another upset, fifth seeded Uzbek Vadim Kutsenko fell in straight sets to Shao Xuan Zeng of China.
Results:
Men's singles (pre-quarter-finals): Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (Tpe) bt Murad Inoyatov (Uzb) 6-1, 6-2; Dmitry Mazur (Uzb) bt ( 4) Ti Chen (Tpe) 6-3, 6-2; Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pak) bt Yew Ming Si (Mas) 6-4, 6-4; Shao Xuan Zeng (Chn) bt (5) Vadim Kutsenko (Uzb) 6-4, 6-4; (6) Young-Jun Kim (Kor) bt Akmal Sharipov (Uzb) 6-4, 6-4; Alexey Kedriouk (Kaz) bt Denis Istomin (Uzb) 6-4, 6-4; Mohammed Al Ghareeb (Kuw) bt Bhee Witoonpanich (Tha) 6-1, 6-1; Peng Sun (Chn) bt Minh Quan Do (Vie) 6-2, 6-4.
Women's singles (pre-quarter-finals): (1) Mi-Ra Jeon (Kor) bt Amina Rakhim (Kaz) 6-3, 6-3; (3) Chia-Jung Chuang (Tha) bt Sai J Jaylakshmy (Ind) 6-3, 6-3; (2) Na Li (Chn) bt Ivanna Israilova (Uzb) 6-3, 7-5; (7) Sania Mirza (Ind) bt Kamila Mirzaalimova (Uzb) 6-0, 6-0; (8) Napaporn Tongsalee (Tha) bt Shu-Jing Yang (Chn) 6-3, 6-2; (4) Ryoko Fuda (Jpn) bt Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; (6) Chin-Wei Chan (Tpe) bt Madina Rakhim (Kaz) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3; (5) Jin-Hee Kim (Kor) bt Xenia Palkina (Kgz) 6-1, 6-2.
Men's doubles (quarter-finals): (1)Alexey Kedriouk Vadim Kutsenko bt Wayne Wong Hiu Tungyu 6-0, 6-4; Mohammed Al Ghareeb Abdullah Magdas bt (2) Sunil Kumar Sipaeya Vishal Uppal 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(5); (4) Murad Inoyatov Denis Istomin bt Anuwat Dalodom Minh Quan Do 6-2, 6-2; Hee-Seok Chung Young-Jun Kim bt (3) Ti Chen Yeu-Tzuoo Wang 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (9).
Women's doubles (quarter-finals): (4) Akgul Amanmuradova Ivanna Israilova bt Ekaterina Morozova Xenia Palkina 6-3, 6-2; (2) Rushmi Chakravarthi Sania Mirza bt Amina Rakhim Madina Rakhim 7-6 (7), 6-3; (3)Chin-Wei Chan Ryoko Fuda bt Wilawan Choptang Napaporn Tongsalee 6-2, 7-6 (3); (1) Chia-Jung Chuang Su-Wei Hsieh bt Ankita Bhambri Sai J Jaylakshmi 6-3, 6-1.