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Qualifier Mei Yamaguchi: India’s leading star Ankita Raina rallied brilliantly to come back from the brink of defeat after being down by a set and trailing 1-5 in the second set to come up trumps against Viktoria Morvayova in a first-round encounter of the ITF Women’s Open being played at the KSLTA Stadium here on Wednesday.

The eighth seed, fighting a sore throat and stomach cramps overcame her Slovakian rival 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 to move into the pre-quarterfinals.

On a good day for the Indians, Rutuja Bhosale and Vaidehi Chaudhary also entered the last 16 stage. While Rutuja fought back after losing the first set 0-6 against Eri Shimizu of Japan before winning the next two sets 7-5, 7-5, Vaidehi brushed aside the challenge of Sapfo Sakellaridi of Greece 6-4, 6-2.