Isha Lakhani rallies to enter final

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January 23, 2004 19:34 IST

Isha Lakhani, despite being hampered by a knee strain midway through the match, was still good enough to beat Thailand's Thassha Vityaviroj and enter the singles final in the $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at the DLTA Courts in Delhi on Friday.

The Indian ace won 6-7(6/8), 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and seven minutes.

In Saturday's final, Isha will play another Thai girl, Montinee Tangphong, who overcame a sluggish start to defeat Italian Giorgia Mortello 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the other semi-final.

The fourth seeded Tangphong was down a break 2-3 in the second set but then reeled off nine games to clinch the set and build a 5-0 lead in the decider before completing the annihilation of Mortello.

The 17-year-old Thassha had done well to reach thus far in the tournament after coming through three rounds of the qualifying stage. But her erratic display proved costly against the 379-ranked Isha.

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