Vaidyanathan knocked out by Chinese qualifier

DUBAI, April 8: Top-seeded Nirupama Vaidyanathan of India was knocked out 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 by Chinese qualifier Li Ting in the first round of t...

DUBAI, April 8: Top-seeded Nirupama Vaidyanathan of India was knocked out 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 by Chinese qualifier Li Ting in the first round of the Al Habtoor Challenger series women’s tennis tournament here last evening.

Nirupama, ranked 173rd in the world, appeared to be in good form as she took the first set easily but was then let down by an ineffective forehand and a weak first serve.

Encouraged by the errors being committed by her opponent, Li got a crucial break at 3-3 and then managed to hold her own serve. The top Indian seed finally lost the second set 3-6.In the decider, both players held serve till 3-3 and then traded breaks till 5-5. Li broke Vaidyanathan again at that stage and held her own serve to take the match.

“My main weapon is my forehand and I kept making mistakes on it… Li played very well,” Nirupama said. The Indian has also entered the doubles with Slovenia’s Petra Rampre. She is due to go on from here to play a WTA event in Croatia.

Uttarakhand rain: 12 in Chamoli go missing as buildings collapse, rescue ops underway

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At least 12 people have gone missing in Uttarakhand after a rainfall-triggered debris slide hit Nandnagar of Chamoli district early on Thursday, bringing down several buildings. The administration and rescue teams have reached the spot to search for the missing individuals.

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