Ankita Raina battles hard to enter semis in Luan

Ankita Raina

India's Ankita Raina quelled a strong challenge from lower-ranked Eudice Wong Chong to make it to the singles semifinals of the USD 60,000 ITF women's event here Friday.

The second seeded Indian, ranked 175, came back from a one-set deficit to beat her Hong Kong rival 2-6 6-4 7-5 in a nearly two-hour long quarterfinal. It turned out to be a very close game, with Ankita winning 88 points, just two more than Eudice, ranked 497.

They broke each other seven times in the match. "It was a tough match, happy that I pulled off this one. In first set she started well and was not missing much. When I moved her around, I started coming back, so I persisted with the strategy," Ankita said from Luan.

"She played really well. I enjoyed the match and was in control in second and third sets," the 26-year-old added. Ankita now has a chance to make her third final of the season as she faces seventh seed Chinese Shuyue Ma. The gritty Indian had won a USD 25k event in Singapore and ended runner-up at a USD 60k tournament in Istanbul.

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