Van Niekerk continues

JAKARTA (JP): Top seeded Maretha Van Niekerk of South Africa went to the girl's singles final while boy's no. 1 seed Sunil Kumar Sipaeya of India was lobbed out of the 2001 Gas Negara International Junior Tennis Championships.

Van Niekerk survived a tough challenge to beat Egyptian Amani Khalifa 0-6, 6-2, 6-3. On Saturday she will meet unseeded Amber Liu of the United States, who ousted second-seed Yomna Farid of Egypt 7-6, (8-7), 6-0 in the semifinals on Friday.

Sipaeya won the first set but he failed to bounce back in the remaining two giving South African Robert Blair a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory. Blair, seeded third in this event, will face second-seed Jonathan Chu of the United States, who overcame another Indian, Vinod Kumar Sewa, 6-4, 7-5. (ivy)