Asian Games tennis: Sania breezes into second round, Poojashree loses

GUANGZHOU - India’s Sania Mirza powered into the women’s singles second round while it was curtains for Poojashree Venkatesha at the Asian Games here Thursday.

Sania, ranked 166, outclassed Wing Yau Venise Chan of Hong Kong 6-1, 6-0 in 50 minutes and next faces 91-ranked Shuai Zhang of China, who is seeded sixth.

Shuai had defeated Sania in the quarterfinals of the Guangzhou Open in September.

Poojashree went down to seventh-seeded Kai Chen Chang of Chinese Taipei 2-6, 2-6.

In the mixed doubles, India’s Sanam Singh and Rushmi Charkravathi overcame Uzbekistan’s Vaja Uzakov and Nigina Abduraimova 7-5, 6-3 and next play seventh-seeded Japan’s Yurika Sema and Hiroki Kondo.