Palkina upsets fifth seeded Bhambri

Pune, Nov 16 (UNI) Top seeded Akgul Ammanmuradova of Uzbekistan will clash with unseeded Ksenia Palkina of Kyrgyzstan while eighth seeded Amina Rakhim of Kazakistan will clash with fourth seeded Olga Panova of Russia in the semifinals of the Cyrus 25,000 dollars Poona Club Women's International tennis tournament.

No Indian player will feature in the semifinals as the last of the Indian challenge crumbled in the quarterfinals today.

Ksenia Palkina of Kyrgyzstan caused the biggest upset of the day when she continued her giant killing spree to beat fifth seeded Ankita Bhambri 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in a 2 hour 7min battle.

In the best match of the day, fourth seeded Olga Panova of Russia escaped by a whisker, scraping past Indian Federation Cup Player Isha Lahkani 7-5,4-6,7-6(7-5) in a two hour 34 minute battle.

Eight seeded and the runner-up of the last week's event, Amina Rakhim outclassed Cassandra Barr of Australia 6-2, 6-2 while top seeded Akgul Ammanmuradova looked the clear favorite for the title with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Indian challenger and seventh seeded Rushmi Chakravarthi.

Following are the results (Quarterfinals) Singles 1. Akgul Amanmuradova (225) Uzb bt 7. Rushmi Chakravarthi (468) Ind 6-0, 6-3 Ksenia Palkina (620) Kyrgzstan bt 5. Ankita Bhambri (414) Ind 6-2, 6-2 4. Olga Panova (338) Russia bt 6. Isha Lakhani (433) Ind 7-5 ,4-6, 7-6(7-5) 8.Amina Rakhim (514) Kaz bt Cassandra Barr (521) Aus 6-2, 6-2 UNI XR KU SAM HT1928