WTA Chennai Open: Indian challenge in qualifying draw ends in round 1

The five Indian players in the qualifying draw of the WTA Chennai Open tennis tournament were bundled out in the opening round at the SDAT Stadium on Saturday.

None of the Indians managed to win even a set. Japan's Yuki Naito, the top-seed in the qualifying, beat 16-year-old Indian wild card Lakshmi Prabha Arunkumar 6-4, 6-1 and will meet Olivia Tjandramulia, who upset 10th seed Ekaterina Kazionova 6-3, 6-1 in another first-round contest.

Second seed Nao Hibino, also from Japan, outclassed Indian wild card Sai Chamarthi 6-1, 6-0. The other Indians in the fray -- Rutuja Bhosale, Riya Bhatia and Sowjanya Bavisetti -- also went down tamely.

Both Bhatia and Bavisetti lost by similar 6-4, 6-0 margins. In the longest match of the day, the third seeded Lina Glushko beat Maria Timofeeva 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 in two hours and 40 minutes.

Players need to win two rounds in qualifying to secure one of six qualifying spots in the 32-player main draw.

Results:

Qualifying (1st round):

Yuki Naito beat Lakshmi Prabha Arunkumar (WC) 6-4, 6-1;

Nao Hibino beat Sai Chamarthi 6-1, 6-0;

Justina Mikulskyte (6) beat Riya Bhatia 6-4, 6-0;

Kyoka Okamura (11) beats Sowjanya Bavisetti 6-4, 6-0;

En-Shuo Lian (12) beat Rutuja Bhosale 6-3, 6-2