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Sanaa Bhambri of India defeated Sheethal Goutham to reach the semi-finals of the $10,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament. She won the match in straight sets by 6-2, 6-3.The match was played at the DLTA stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.
Sanaa will play against Chinese Sirui He in the semis. Sirui He had a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over the South Korean Jung-Yoon Shin.
In the other quarterfinals, top-seeded Indian Poojashree Venkatesha overcame a tough challenge from sixth-seeded Israeli Keren Shlomo by 7-5, 7-5. Poojashree will face eighth-seeded compatriot Rushmi Chakravarthi, who outclassed Shivika Burman by 6-1, 6-1.
Sheethal, who made comeback on the circuit after three years, could not match up to Sanaa's sharp game. She made a stream of errors to go down to the Delhi girl.
Sheethal had defeated fourth-seeded Isha Lakhani in the second round. She trailed by 2-4 in the first set and dropped her serve again in the seventh game. All Sanaa had to do was to serve out the set.
Sanaa has a unsteady start in the second set, saving two break points in the second game. She, then, wasted three break points in the next. She broke Sheethal in the fifth game when the latter hit a forehand long but dropped her serve in the next game to make it 3-3.
Sanaa finally broke Sheethal in the seventh and the ninth game to close out the set and the match.
