Ankita-Dart combination beats Chinese duo to title

Ankita Raina and Harriet Dart of Great Britain beat Chinese Liu Fangzhou and Xun Fang Ying 6-3, 6-3 for the doubles title in the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament here on Saturday.

With the win, the 25-year-old avenged her singles quarterfinal loss in the third set tie-break at the hands of Fang Ying Xun.

“I am very happy and proud of myself, especially because this was the seventh week in a row. I really enjoyed with Harriet, not just because we won, but I genuinely enjoyed,” said Ankita on her triumph.

She had competed in three tournaments in the $25,000 series in Japan and followed that up with two $125,000 events and two $60,000 events in China.

Ankita will return home and fly to Paris for her maiden Grand Slam appearance, at Roland Garros.

“I am very happy to be getting ready to play the Grand Slam. I cannot describe the feeling in words. I have played a lot of matches last few weeks. So, I am ready. I am going a few days early so that I get used to the weather and the courts,” said Ankita, who pointed out that the $125,000 WTA event that she had played in Anning, was on French clay.

It was the first doubles title of the season for Ankita, and the second title after the $25,000 singles crown in Gwalior in March.

She has six singles titles and 13 doubles titles in the professional circuit.

The results: $60,000 ITF women, Luan, China: Final: Harriet Dart (GBR) & Ankita Raina bt Fangzhou Liu & Fang Ying Xun (Chn) 6-3, 6-3.

$15,000 ITF women, Cairo: Semifinals: Lamis Alhusssein Abdel Aziz (Egy) & Maria Patrascu (Can) bt Shelby Talcott (USA) & Riya Bhatia 6-3, 6-3.

Men: Final: Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (GBr) & Orlando Luz (Bra) bt Tarun Anirudh Chilakalapudi & P.C. Vignesh 6-1, 6-4.

$15,000 ITF men, Kampala, Uganda: Quarterfinals: Ivan Nedelko (Rus) bt S.D. Prajwal Dev 6-1, 6-4; Takanyi Garanganga (Zim) bt V.M. Ranjeet 7-5, 6-2. Doubles: Kaza Vinayak Sharma & V.M. Ranjeet bt Giovani Samaha (Lbn) & Kunal Anand 3-6, 6-3, [11-9].