Sania Mirza in last eight

Indian junior Sania Mirza moved effortlessly into the quarter-finals of the Grade II Hong Kong Open junior tennis championships with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 victory over Shao Shi Tong of China on Wednesday.

The consistent Chinese girl, who showed a lot of resilience, could not keep pace with the crisp strokeplay of the Hyderabad lass and caved in quick time.

Sania hung on patiently in the long rallies before repeatedly opening up the court with scintillating strokes from the baseline. WIth the Indian girl's first serve functioning well, the Chinese found it difficult to break back once Sania had effected the initial break in the first set.

Sania is currently at an all-time personal best of No. 35 in the world in the junior girls' category this week. She would next meet sixth seed Natalia Papadopolou of Sweden in what is expected to be a keenly fought encounter.

Sania had a fine run in the doubles too, as she and her partner Matea Mezak of Croatia entered the semi-finals on Wednesday with an impressive 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kwok Emily of Canada and Xu Zhi of China in the quarter-finals.

Last week, at the Grade-A Osaka Mayor's Cup in Japan, Sania, seeded seventh, lost in the second round of the event.

In the boys' section, tenth seed Nishank Mishra of India moved into the pre-quarter-finals, beating Jason Mok of Australia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in the second round. He will now face seventh seed Michael Ryderstedt of Sweden.

Another Indian, 14th seed, Jaco Mathew lost to unseeded Kai-Ling Chang of Taiwan 2-6. 1-6 in his second round match. Jaco had a first round bye.

In the doubles section, Jaco Mathew is partnering Joseph Victorino of the Philippines. The duo, seeded second, have a first round bye and will face the Elad Milo and Yoav Schab of Isreal in the second round.