Maltese pair beaten in QFs

Malta's representation in the ITF U-18 world ranking tournament came to an end yesterday when the quarter-finals of the singles and doubles tournaments were played at the Marsa Sports Club.

Steffi Sullivan and Elaine Genovese bowed out of the girls doubles tournament after they were beaten by Austria's Hofmanova and Czech player Linhova, who reached the semi-finals. The Maltese pair lost 6-1 6-1

In the women's singles, top seed Naomi Cavaday, of Great Britain, beat Bulgarian player Elena Jet-cheva 6-3 6-2. Jetcheva, the 2004 champion who trains regularly with the Malta national team, found the going tough against the British player, ranked 335 in the world.

The other three players who qualified for the semi-finals are Hofmanova, Kadur and Linhova.

Boys' no. 1 player Bajoria of India was also through to the semi-finals of the singles competition after beating Germany's Pulsfort 6-3 6-4. He was joined in the next round by Austria's Linzer, Podlenski of Great Britain and Serbia's Zlatanovic.