Mirza-andreja in Qatar Open semis

DOHA: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her Slovenian partner Andreja Klepac sailed into the women’s doubles semi-finals of the Qatar Open with a straight sets win here on Wednesday. Sania and Andreja made short work of fourth seeds Anna Blinkova and Gabriela Dabrowski 6-2, 6-0 to reach the last four.

Sindhu, Srikanth, Jayaram advance

BASEL: Top Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram advanced to the second round of Swiss Open here on Wednesday. While world champion Sindhu beat Turkish Neslihan Yigit 21-16, 21-19, former world No.1 Srikanth, who won the title here in 2015, defeated compatriot Sameer Verma 18-21, 21-18, 21-11. Meanwhile, Jayaram ousted Thai Sitthikom Thammasin 21-12, 21-13. Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap had a humiliating start as they crashed out in the first round. Young prodigies Sai Praneeth, and Sourabh Verma advanced to the second round. Olympic medallist Nehwal lost in a tough-fought clash against Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan 16-21, 21-17, 21-23 that lasted for 58 minutes. Kashyap lost to lowerranked Pablo Abian of Spain 15-21, 10-21 in straight games. Praneeth outclassed Israel’s Misha Zilberman 21-11,21-14.