Injury forced the Indian to retire from final qualifier earlier in the morning
Hamstring niggle may have forced India’s Riya Bhatia to retire from her final qualifier against Dalila Jakupovic, but she got lucky to make the main draw of the $100,000 KPB Trust Women’s Open at the KSLTA courts here on Tuesday.
Bhatia retired when trailing 1-2 in the second set after losing the first set 1-6 to the Slovenian. But the Indian got fortunate as she got a Lucky Loser spot following the withdrawal of Japana’s Sara Saito on medical grounds.
Earlier, Bhatia, who had strapping on her left thigh, retired midway through the second set against the third seed. The 27-year-old, the only Indian to make the second round of the biggest-ever ITF event in the country, had called the trainer on court after the loss of the opening set.
For the next 20-odd minutes, the wildcard entrant matched Jakupovic in shot-making. But midway through the fourth game, the niggle flared up again and Bhatia, struggling with her movement, decided to retire. In her first match on Monday, Bhatia was hampered by an adductor injury. Bhatia, however, returned three hours later to play her main draw doubles opener with partner Zeel Desai.
Joining Jakupovic in the main draw were Priska Madelyn Nugroho, Janice Tjen, Tina Nadine Smith, Petra Marcinko, Iryna Shymanovich, Maria Kozyreva and Daria Kudashova.
Earlier, the final qualifier began after a brief opening ceremony. Dollu Kunitha artistes enthralled a small gathering, especially the overseas players, with their high-energy performance.
The country’s biggest ITF tournament is sponsored by KPB Family Trust, Dafa News, Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru, Oriental Lotus, MSIL and Vaia Climate.
Results (Final qualifying round):
Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt Riya Bhatia (Ind) 6-1, 2-1 (retd.)
Priska Madelyn Nugroho (Ina) bt Anastasia Tikhonova (Rus) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
Janice Tjen (Ina) bt Mei Yamaguchi (Jpn) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Tina Nadine Smith (Aus) bt Saki Imamura (Jpn) 6-4, 6-2
Petra Marcinko (Cro) bt Alice Robbe (Fra) 7-5, 7-6 (10-8)
Iryna Shymanovich (Blr) bt Naho Sato (Jpn) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
Maria Kozyreva (Rus) bt Fangran Tian (Chn) 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2
Daria Kudashova (Rus) bt Amina Anshba (Rus) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5