Tennis: Ankita Raina wins women's doubles title at ITF Kazakhstan

Indian tennis star Ankita Raina bagged the women's doubles title at the ongoing ITF Kazakhstan 05A partnering Momoko Kobori of Japan on Saturday. The Indo-Japanese duo defeated South Korea's N Han and J Choi 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 in the final.

Raina and Kobori started off well in the final and pocketed the first set 6-3 in no time as the South Korean pair looked completely clueless in front of an aglie and skilled Indo-Japanese pair.

The joy, however, was short lived for Ankita Raina and Momoko Kobori as Han and Choi returned the favour in the next set to pocket it by the same margin to force the final into a tiebreak.

The South Koreans kept things tight in the tiebreak, but Raina and Kobori found ways to break at the right moment to pocket it 10-8 and walk away as the winners.

Ankita Raina and Momoko Kobori had earlier defeated Mariira Tkacheva and Anastasia Zolotareva 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals.

Ankita had also entered in the singles section at ITF Kazakhstan, but crashed out in the pre-quarterfinals after facing a 1-6, 3-6 loss against Georgia's Mariam Bolkvadze.