Amee Kamani enters semifinals of Asian Heyball Championships

India’s Amee Kamani reached the semifinals of the Asian Heyball Championships with a narrow win over Tamami Okuda. Other Indian players had mixed results, with early exits in the men’s section and quarterfinal losses in women’s events

Hyderabad: India’s Amee Kamani powered into the women’s semifinals of the Asian Heyball Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia, on Tuesday.

The Indore cueist scored a gritty 6-5 win over Tamami Okuda of Japan in the quarterfinals. Amee, a bronze medallist at the World Championships last year, will take on Waratthanun Sukritthanes of Thailand in the last-four stage clash on Wednesday.

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Earlier, the left-handed Amee, who advanced through the losers’ bracket, defeated the hitherto unbeaten Keerthana Pandian 6-1 in the pre-quarterfinals.

Anupama Ramachandran, last year’s bronze medallist, lost 4-6 to Filipino Rhaki Constantino in the quarterfinals. Anupama had beaten fellow Indian Natasha Chethan 6-4 in the round of 16.

India’s Vidya Pillai, a bronze medallist at the previous edition, and Neena Praveen lost in the final losers’ qualification round.

In the men’s section, Shivam Arora and Ranveer Duggal crashed out in the pre-quarterfinals. While Arora went down fighting 6-7 to Malaysia’s Thor Chuan Leong, Duggal lost 5-6 (on time) to Iran’s Sina Valizadeh.

India’s Sundeep Gulati, the defending men’s champion, failed to get past the opening round.