Taiwanese books semis seat

Fifth seed Wang I-ting of Chinese Taipei marched into the semifinals of the $10,000 Union Cement-ITF Philippine Women’s Circuit after posting a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Japanese qualifier Mari Inoue yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Wang, a quarterfinalist in the recent Asian Games in Busan, played her usual game of baseline and occasional net attacks to conquer Inoue in 80 minutes and set up a meeting with second seed Khoo Chin Bee of Malaysia.

Khoo, the No. 2 seed, breezed past Uzbekistan Federation Cup team member Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-2, 6-1.

"I think that Inoue got really tired because she played two straight three-set matches. She made many mistakes," said the 20-year-old Wang, who is ranked No. 4 back home.

Wang, a native of Tainan, hopes to score her second straight win over Khoo, the world’s No. 571 player.

"I hope to play well against Khoo. We are both familiar with our games and I expect an interesting match," said Wang, whose best world ranking is No. 430 last year. She is currently No. 604.

Wang lost to Khoo in a $10,000 tournament in Korea but she prevailed in another $10,000 event in Chinese Taipei early this year.

Also advancing in the semifinals of this event supported by the ITF Grand Slam Development Fund, Wilson balls, Truflex, Manila Midtown Hotel and Philippine Sports Commission was No. 16 Sania Mirza of India.

Only 15, Mirza defeated Kim Kilsdonk of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-1.

The world’s No. 833 Mirza played in the Wimbledon, French and US Open Juniors this year.

Meanwhile, second seeds Dong Yan-Hua and Zhang Yao of China rallied past Hungarian Zsuzsanna Babos and Austrian Elisabeth Bahn, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, while Uzbek pair Akgul Amanmuradova and Ivanna Israilova downed fifth seeds Cassandra Barr of Australia and Khoo, 6-4, 6-3, to earn semifinal slots.