Local hopes extinguished

Bangladesh's Afrana Islam Preeti lost against Xiaowei Hu of China in straight sets in the pre-quarterfinal of the Walton 30th Bangladesh ITF Junior Tennis Championships at the Ramna National Tennis Complex yesterday.

The 17-year-old Bangladeshi, who had beaten Gouri Agarwal of India sets in the second round on Tuesday, surrendered meekly to the fifth seeded Chinese player (1-6, 0-6) yesterday.

The day also saw Bangladesh's doubles pairs eliminated. Lamisa Suchona Fabiha and Raisa Haider pair lost against India's Harsha Sai Challa and Sharannya Gaware pair (0-6, 0-6); Shafina Sha Laxme and Afrana pair lost against India's Muskan Gupta and Tanisha Kashyap pair (1-6, 0-6) while Bangladesh's Raina Shay Lal and India's Muskaan Ranjan pair lost against Gauri Agarwal and Riddhi Ramesh Sharma pair in straight sets.