Jingshan Open WTA 125, China (Hard), Sept 22-28 2025

[sameerph]

Big Indian contingent playing at Jingshan WTA 125 this week in China.

Ankita and Riya were slated to play each other in qualifying but Ankita gave a walkover and Riya went on to make main draw with a win over 36 year old Chinese currently ranked 797 but with a career high rank of 105.

[Q1] Riya Bhatia (IND,501) bye

[Q2] Riya Bhatia (IND,501) d. Jing-Jing Lu (CHN,797) 63 36 64

Karman Kaur Thandi makes a comeback here with her PR. So, Riya and Karman will be in the singles main draw.

Also, Ankita-Rutuja, Prarthana, Riya and Karman are also in the doubles main draw.

Will update the match-ups once Riya's first round opponent is known.

[Omkara]

Ankita gave a walkover in singles is playing doubles?

[SaniaFan]

Is Karman playing with her protected ranking? For how long do they have protected ranking?

[Omkara]

Wondering why Karman is playing this tournament. She could have played W35/25

[sameerph]

Is Karman playing with her protected ranking? For how long do they have protected ranking?

Yes, she is playing with his protected ranking. One can use protected ranking for 12 tournament since return. After October 2023, Karman played 2 tournaments in India in Jan 2025 but with wild card. So, this is her first tournament using her PR.

But, should be tough for her to directly play these WTA 125 tournaments immediately on return, lets us see.

[sameerph]

These are the first round match-ups for us.

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,NR) v Anastasia Kulikova (FIN,380)

[R1] Riya Bhatia (IND,499) vs. (5) Xinyu Gao (CHN,187)

Doubles-

[R1] Riya Bhatia/ Lian Tran (IND/NED) vs. Ye-Xin Ma / Ying Zhang (CHN/CHN)

[R1] Ariane Hartono / Prarthana Thombare (NED/IND) v Jodie Burrage/ Lulu Sun (GBR/NZL)

[R1] Valeria Savinykh/ Karaman Kaur Thandi (RUS/IND) v Anastasia Kulikova/ Jessica Pieri (FIN/ITA)

[R1] Ankita Raina / Rutuja Bhosale (IND/IND) vs. Na-Ri Kim / Chengyuyi Yuan (KOR/CHN)

[PKBasu]

[R1] Valeria Savinykh/ Karman Kaur Thandi (RUS/IND) d. Anastasia Kulikova/ Jessica Pieri (FIN/ITA) 46 52 (retd)

[Shyam2000]

Karman took some time to adapt to competitive tennis in the first set. Looks solid in the 2nd set. The same backhand woes which have been her problem for years still continue though.

[sameerph]

She lost in straight sets.

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,NR) l. Anastasia Kulikova (FIN,380) 36 67(0)

Very tough to directly play matches at this level returning after so long.

[Omkara]

But good fight I would say. She should play a few w35/50. They would be better for her

[Shyam2000]

Sumit, Maaya, Karman all disappointed this week. But a surprise from Riya Bhatia. Back in the top 450 already and she can probably go close to 300 with a few more wins. Not just that, Chennai 250 is also a great chance of improving her ranking.

[PKBasu]

[R1] Ankita Raina / Rutuja Bhosale (IND/IND) d. Na-Ri Kim / Chengyuyi Yuan (KOR/CHN) 61 63

And one of the best singles victories of the year from among our women:
[R1] Q-Riya Bhatia (IND, 499; CH 338) d. 5-Gao Xinyu (CHN, 187; CH 125) 64 16 63

[PKBasu]

So that brings up:

[R2] Q-Riya Bhatia (IND, 499) vs. Lu Jia-jing (CHN, 349; CH 162)

In FQR, Riya beat Lu Jing-jing (CHN, 811; CH 159). This Lu is born in Inner Mongolia, the other one in Shenyang (formerly known as Mukden, in Manchuria, now Liaoning province). Not sure if they are sisters (perhaps with parents who had transferable jobs). Jia-jing (the next opponent) is 35 years old, Jing-jing (the one defeated in FQR) is 36. I'm hopeful that Riya will pull off another good win.

[vparam]

Speaking of the upcoming Chennai 250 tournament, can the mods open up new thread as we should know the direct entries at this point? Thanks.

[jayakris]

[R1] Q-Riya Bhatia (IND, 499; CH 338) d. 5-Gao Xinyu (CHN, 187; CH 125) 64 16 63

What a job by Riya! She has been really doing well these days.