Zhibek kulambayeva

Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association: Prarthana Thombare kept Indian hopes alive as India's No.1 doubles player along with her Dutch partner Arianne Hartono reached the doubles final at the Mumbai Open WTA 125K Series Tennis Championships here on Saturday.

Maharashtra's Thombare and Hartono showed terrific understanding and combined perfectly to record a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 win over the Kazakhstan-South Korean pairing of Zhibek Kulambayeva and Sohyun Park in the second semifinal played under floodlights at the iconic CCI courts in the event being organized by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) and the Cricket Club of India (CCI).

In the finals, the Indo-Dutch combination will clash with second seeds Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia and American Sabrina Santamaria. The Slovenian-American duo defeated Great Britain’s Naiktha Bains and Hungary’s Fanny Stollar 6-4, 6-1 in the other semifinal.