Chinese teener outlasts seeded Brit, enters semis

MANILA, Philippines - Unheralded Chinese Tian Ran continued her giant-slaying ways with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 shocking of 14th seed Jennifer Ren of Great Britain in yesterday’s rain-delayed round to advance to the semifinals in the women’s division of the 21st Mitsubishi International Junior Tennis Championships at the Rizal Tennis Center.

Tian, a fast-rising 15-year-old netter who is unseeded here, will take on the winner between No. 7 Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand and No. 2 Tamara Curovic of Serbia, whose match was halted by rains.

No. 6 Caroline Garcia of France likewise advanced after she humbled No. 4 Grace Ysidora of Indonesia, 6-4, 6-4, to set up an interesting semis duel with top pick Irina Kromacheva of Russia, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over No. 11 Ilona Kremen of Belarus.

Tian, who topped both the two legs of the Phinma International held here last December, needed to overhaul a one-set deficit by coming out strong in the last two sets to pull off another upset as big as her 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 shock win over No. 5 Emi Mutaguchi of Japan Wednesday.

The power-hitting Ren imposed her will in the first set and the early part of the second by pounding in nine aces but couldn’t sustain her energy late in the game, allowing Tian to take over and snare the victory.

The Philippine Sports Commission, ACCEL, Century Park Hotel, ITF Juniors Circuit, Dunlop Sports and Gatorade are backing the tournament.