Sania denied a double

Top seeded Indian junior Sania Mirza was in line for a grand double after storming into the singles and doubles finals at the grade 4 Smash tennis international junior world ranking championships in Cairo, but she was only able to emerge successful in the doubles on Friday.

Khalifa Amani of Egypt ended her winning run, beating her 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the singles final. However, the Hyderabad girl made amends in the doubles event, winning the title for the second week in a row as she and her partner, Marzovic Wana of Yugoslavia, defeated the Egyptian pair of Khalifa Amani and Heidi Al Tabakh 6-2, 6-2 in the final.

Earlier, in the semi-finals, the young girl had defeated Breda Kovac of Slovakia 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday. Khalifa got the better of Antonia Aposteanu of Romania in the other semi-final.

In the quarter-final, Sania had defeated Nadja Kusterer of Germany 7-5, 6-3.

Sania, with Marzovic Wana of Yugoslavia, defeated Nicoleta Ratiu of Romania and Breda Kovac of Slovakia 6-0, 6-2 in the doubles semi-finals. The duo had beaten Aposteanu Antonia and Ion Alexandra from Romania in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Another Indian girl, 15-year-old Kurshmi Cheddha had reached the second round of the tournament, with a 6-1 (retd) win over Marina Barcel of Brazil, before losing to Amal Basha of Egypt 7-5, 4-6, 1-6 in the second round.

In the boys' event, Karan Rastogi defeated Mohamed El Sohafy of Egypt 6-0, 6-3 before falling to Omar Hedayet of Egypt 2-6, 4-6 in the second round. Rishi Behl also lost in the first round, to Musaad Al Jazzaf of Kuwait 6-4, 3-6, 4-6.

There was a lone Indian entry in the Cable & Wireless ITF Jamaica Junior International tennis tournament, played at the Liguanea Club, Jamaica. However, junior Saurabh Singh lost in the pre-quarter-finals. Seeded seventh, the youngster lost to 11th seeded Kevron Bennett of Jamaica 2-6, 3-6. Earlier, in the second round, he defeated Ryan Russell of Jamaica 6-3, 6-2. He had a first round bye.

Saurabh, after his last week's success at the Copa Merengue Cup in the Dominican Republic, raised his ranking by about 50 spots -- to 301 this week.

In the doubles, Saurabh is playing with Bryson Bowden of the Unites States. The pair is seeded third. The duo had a first round bye and will face Daigo Sakurai of Japan and Dane Vernon of Jamaica in the second round.

At the Jungsten Tennis Cup being played in Koln, Germany, young Indian Anshuman Dutta lost in the second round to Luis DeQuevedo of Mexico 4-6, 6-1, 3-6. He had a first round bye.

In the doubles, Dutta, playing with El Sherbiny of Egypt, will face the Italian pair of Gianluca Naso and A Arnalboldi in the second round. Earlier the duo defated the Sweedish pair of Eleskovic and Kalle Norberg 6-7, 6-0, 6-4.

In the girls' event, Kartiki Bhat moved into the pre-quarter-finals where she will face top seed Dia Evtimova of Bulgaria. Earlier, she defeated Michaela Vogel of Germany 6-7, 6-0, 7-5 in the third round; defeated Laura Haberkorn of Germany 6-2, 6-2 in the second and defeated Magy Nader Aziz of Egypt 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.

Another Indian, Bhambri Sanaa also moved into the pre-quarter-finals, where she will face Jia Zhan of China. Earlier, she defeated Justine Ozga of Germany 6-2, 6-3 in the third round; defeated Laura Vallverdu of Venuzuella 6-2, 6-1 in the second and Theodora Marcic in the first.

In the doubles, Kartiki with Ting Lu Ting of China lost to Estefania Balda and Tania Varela of Equcador 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 in the first round. Bhambri Sanaa and Niculescu of Romania will face Laura Vallverdu of Venezuela and Craciun of Bolivia in the second.

Earlier, last week, Dartiki Bhat, seeded sixth in the under-14 girls' singles in the des Hauts de Seine event, in France, defeated Tania Varela of Equcador 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 in the first round before losing to Bojana Bobusic of Australia 5-7, 6-2, 3-6 in the second.

In doubles, Sanaa Bhambri, playing with Nudnida Luangnam of Thailand, stormed into the semi-finals, where they face the second seeded Russian pair of Alisa Kleibanova and Ekaterina Ivanova.

Earlier, in the quarter-finals, they defeated Tapiwa Marobella of Botswana and Liz-Mari Cloete of South Africa 1-6, 7-6, 7-6. In the second round they defeated the Australian pair of Natalie Tanevska and Bojana Bobusic 6-2, 6-2 and in the first round they defeated Tania Varela of Equcador and Maria Fernanda Alvarez of Bolivia 6-3, 6-0.

Kartiki Bhat, playing with Minami Endo of Japan, lost in the first round to Vicky Nunez of Columbia and Bruna Paes of Brazil 3-6, 2-6.

In boys' under 14 doubles, Anshuman Dutta, playing with Dong Cia-Kang of China, lost in the first round to the Belgian pair of Maxime Authom and Van Haelen 4-6, 1-6.