GUANGZHOU: Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm, the 40-year-old top seed, and Indian golden girl Sania Mirza both reached the Asian Games women’s singles quarter-finals on Friday.
Date Krumm, who was the gold medallist at the 1994 Games in Hiroshima, brushed past Hong Kong’s Zhang Ling 6-3, 6-3 while Mirza knocked out Chinese hope Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-2. The unseeded Mirza’s world ranking has slumped to 166 following a series of injuries and she was forced to miss the women’s team event at the Games because of illness.
But the 24-year-old started off her singles campaign with a 6-1, 6-0 romp over Hong Kong’s Venise Chan on Thursday and was in equally emphatic form on Friday. “I felt a bit rusty at the beginning, but I feel I was playing better than yesterday,” said Mirza.
“I had not played much in the last four weeks so I’m trying my best to focus. I knew Zhang had a weak serve so I had to attack it. I felt like I was serving much better.”
Mirza now comes up against second seed Tamarine Tanasugarn in the quarters after the Thai defeated South Korea’s Lee So-Ra 6-0, 6-1. In the men’s event, top seed Denis Istomin thrashed Vietnam’s Do Minh Quan 6-0, 6-2 while ninth seed and defending champion, Danai Udomchoke beat Hong Kong’s Yu Hiu Tung 6-3, 6-2. Somdev Devvarman, the men’s second seed from India, demolished Qatar’s Mohammed Jabor Al Mutawa 6-0, 6-0 in just 37 minutes.
