Zalameda smothers Korean, gains Last 8

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Riza Zalameda scuttled Han Na Lae of Korea with a superb all-around game to hack out a 6-3, 6-3 victory yesterday as she rolled into the quarterfinal round of the $10,000 PLDT-Smart ITF Women’s Circuit Week 2 at the Rizal Tennis Center.

Zalameda, who decided to withdraw from the ongoing PCA Open to concentrate on this meet which offers ITF ranking points, shoots for a spot in the semis against fourth seed Yoo Mi of Korea in one of today’s four quarterfinals matches.

Yoo, who finished second to compatriot Lee Ye Ra in last week’s Holcim/ITF Women’s Circuit Week I, matched Zalameda’s romp with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Vietnamese Trang Huynh Phuong Dai in the week-long tournament sponsored by PLDT/Smart, Holcim, Phinma and the ITF Grand Slam Development Fund.

Top seed Elodie Rogge-Dietrich of France and No. 2 Lee trampled their respective rivals in straight-set fashions with the former disposing of Juan Ting Fei of France, 6-4, 6-0, and the latter dominating Gally de Wael of Belgium, 6-1, 6-3.

Rogge-Dietrich takes on No. 5 Liu Shaozhou of China, who dismantled compatriot Zhang Nan Nan, 6-4, 6-0; while Lee plays compatriot No. 7 Han Sung Hee, who beat Beatrice Gumulya of Indonesia, 6-1, 6-2, in the tournament backed by Tecnifibre Balls, Powerade, Viva Mineral Water and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Third seed Mari Inoue of Japan edged You Ju Hee of Korea in the only three-setter of the day, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, while No. 8 Nicha Lertpitaksinchai of Thailand whitewashed Ivana Kung of the United States, 6-0, 6-0.

Zalameda, who will banner the RP Team with comebacking Maricris Fernandez, Anna Christine Patrimonio and Fil-Am Denise Dy in next month’s SEA Games in Laos, also teamed up with Anna Christine Patrimonio to turn back He Chun Yan of China and King, 6-3, 4-6, 10-4, in the doubles event.

Former RP No. 1 Czarina Mae Arevalo and partner Katharina Lehnert of Germany outlasted wild card Trang Huynh Phuong Dai of Vietnam and Zhang Nan Nan of China, 5-7, 6-3, 11-9, to likewise advance.

Patrimonio and Zalameda take on No. 1 Beatrice Gumulya of Indonesia and Han Sung Hee of Korea, a 6-1, 1-6, 10-5 winner over the Korean duo of Han Na Lae and Yoo Mi, while Arevalo and Lehnert tangle with Koreans Kim Jung Eun and You Ju Hee, who downed Austrian Julia Dinhof and Liechtenstein’s Marina Novak, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8.