Russian ousts error-prone Denise

Third seed Maya Gaverova of Russia overpowered fifth pick Denise Dy, 7-5, 6-2, yesterday to dash the country’s last hope in the 17th Mitsubishi Lancer ITF Junior Circuit at the Rizal Tennis Center.

Gaverova used her big serves and power strokes to overcome the 17-year-old Fil-Am in just an hour and 12 minutes that completed a Filipino shutout from this week-long Group 1 tournament that stakes 150 ITF points to the champion.

"Too many mistakes, I didn’t play really well, I’m disappointed with my game," said Dy

But the double bronze medalist in the last 23rd Southeast Asian Games, did not go out without a fight though in this meet bankrolled by Mitsubishi Lancer, Wilson Balls, Accel and Traders Hotel.

Banking on her solid baseline play, Dy seized a 4-3 lead by holding her serves early in the first set but Gaverova took four of the next five games to claim the set.

The Russian, who topped the Thailand Open last week and a tournament in Egypt last year, was merciless in the second set as she pounced on the local lass’ erratic game.

It was Dy’s third quarterfinal finish in the month, the first two being in a Group II event in Indonesia and a Group 1 meet in Bangkok a week back.

She was a losing semifinalist to New Zealand’s Sacha Jones in another Group 1 event in Genting, Malaysia two weeks ago. Jones, the top seed here, won that event and is close to taking this one with a 6-1, 1-6, 7-5 victory over seventh pick Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand to advance to the semifinals.

Jones takes on No. 8 Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland, a 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 winner over American Chloe Jones while Gaverova plays second seed Khrystyna Antoniychuk of Ukraine, who edged Veronica Li of the US in a rain-delayed 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win, next.

But the day belonged to Chinese qualifier Bai Yan, who shocked top seed Sanam Singh of India, 7-5, 6-1.

Bai, who also stunned No. 6 James Lemke of Austria, 6-1, 6-0, along the way, hopes to extend his dream run as he takes on No. 3 Lee Hsin-Han of Chinese Taipei, who trounced No. 5 Artur Chernov of Russia, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"I think I played good today, I tried to be consistent with my shots," said Bai, a quarterfinalist in the Guanzhou Men’s Future three weeks ago.

The other boys’ semifinal pairing pits unseeded Peng Hsien-Yin of Chinese Taipei, who humbled No. 4 Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan of India, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, and No. 2 Sho Aida of Japan, who downed Daniil Arsenov of Russia, 7-6 (4), 6-2.