11 December 2005

Dubai: Algeria's Samia Medjahdi staged a remarkable battle to overcome Vokislava Lukic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second of qualifying at the 7th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge yesterday.

Medjahdi showed a lot of grit and determination battling in scorching conditions before defeating her opponent from Serbia and Montenegro.

Fatima Al Nabhani of Oman, the second Arab national in the qualifying draw, was not so fortunate as she lost in straight sets to Maja Kambic.

Al Nabhani, who has been making steady progress on the Gulf circuit, lost 6-1, 6-1 to her opponent from Slovenia.

Also doing well on the opening day of the qualifiers were a couple of Indian girls Punam Reddy and Sanaa Bhambri with convincing wins.

Reddy got the better of Yana Levchenko of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2 in the day's opener while Bhambri overturned a one-set deficit before winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Alana Van Der Vort from the US was another easy winner with a 6-1, 6-0 result against Prerna-Mythri Appineni of India.

Jennifer Smith, who is based in the UAE, also came up against a strong opponent, losing 6-2, 6-1 against Thassha Vitayaviroj from Thailand.

The second round of qualifying will continue from 10am today.

The qualifying will be followed by the formal draw ceremony later this afternoon.

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