Rana shocks second seed Solanki in DSCL tennis nationals

New Delhi, Oct 23 (IANS) Qualifier Shweta Rana put up a crafty performance to topple second seeded Shweta Solanki in the DSCL women's tennis nationals to cruise her way to the semi-final at the DLTA complex here Thursday.

The 15-year-old Rana covered the flanks well to swiftly nudge out Solanki 6-4, 6-1 in an hour and 35 minutes. She had upset eighth seeded Treta Bhattacharya in the quarters.

'I am very happy with my performance. She (Solanki) is a senior and I had nothing to lose. But she was continuously looping the ball and it was only when I started to hit drive volleys, I felt I unsettled her. She was morally down in the second set especially when I took a 4-1 lead,' gushed the tenth-grader.

'If I keep playing like this, then I feel I have a good chance to win the title,' said Rana, who next faces another veteran on the circuit, 24-year-old Geeta Manohar, who outplayed Sayali Bhilare 6-2, 6-2.

'Geeta was too good. She hit the ball flat and kept it low which I found difficult to return,' said 18-year-old Sayali.

In the other singles, top seed Shalini Sahoo stamped her authority with a 6-1, 6-1 routing of Sowjanya Bavishetti. She takes on 14-year-old Ratnika Batra in the semi-final, who showed the door to P.A. Sindhu Nila with a 6-1, 6-0 drubbing.