Mirza denies second chance<\/p>\n
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The march of top seed Sania Mirza from India was finally
\nhalted after Thailand's Montinee Tangphong knocked her out with a
\n2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win in the semifinals of the Indonesia Women's
\nCircuit at the Hilton tennis courts on Friday.<\/p>\n
A dominant run in the opening set did not help Mirza, who won
\nthe first series of the US$10,000 tournament last week, in her
\nhunt for the second title.<\/p>\n
The Wimbledon junior doubles champion was humbled by
\nTangphong's consistent play in the rest of the matches.<\/p>\n
In the final, Tangphong, two years older than Mirza, will meet
\neighth seed, Indonesia's Liza Andriyani, who upset compatriot
\nSepti Mende 6-3, 6-1 in the other semifinal.<\/p>\n
Liza, a member of the national team for the 2002 Busan Asian
\nGames, started convincingly and took an early 3-0 lead, but Septi
\nmanaged to close the gap to 3-3.<\/p>\n
However, it was all Septi could get as her 24-year-old
\nopponent showed her experience to exploit Septi's poor response
\nto Liza's returns.<\/p>\n
The second set was no better for Septi, as she kept committing
\nrecurrent unforced errors while low balls from Liza left her
\nstanding.<\/p>\n
Septi, who along with Sandy Gumulya and Maya Rosa will be in
\nthe team for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, only
\nmanaged to take another game before finally succumbing.<\/p>\n
It proved a double blow for Sandy as she later had to abandon
\nher hopes for the doubles event. Teaming up with Maya Rosa, she
\nwas beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Liza\/Diana Julianto.<\/p>\n
Liza\/Diana will meet Sandy\/Wukirasih Sawondari, the 4-6, 6-3,
\n6-4 winners over Rushmi Chakravarthi\/Sania Mirza, in an all-
\nIndonesia final.<\/p>\n
Liza said that she was basically on a par with her juniors,
\nexcept that they would need to sharpen their mental agility.<\/p>\n
\"The girls (in the SEAG team) are good in term of skills, but
\nthey need to keep their wits about them,\" she told reporters
\nafter the match.<\/p>\n
Liza holds the upper hand going into Saturday's final as the
\nIndonesian defeated her Thai opponent in their last meeting in
\nThailand in August.<\/p>\n
\"I played Tangphong in a satellite tournament in Thailand in
\nAugust. I beat her 6-1, 6-3. We'll see what happens tomorrow,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mirza-denies-second-chance-1447893297",
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