Mirza-Shuai eye China Open final spot

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Peng Shuai will look to seal a spot in the finals of the China Open when they head into the semi-finals of the women's doubles event later 7 October.

The third-seeded pair rebounded strongly from a set down to beat fifth-seeded Czech duo of Barbara Strycova and Katerina Siniakova 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 in a thrilling last-eight clash yesterday.

Sania and Peng will now lock horns with Swiss star Martina Hingis and Chan Yung-jan of Chinese Taipei to seal the berth in the summit showdown.

Earlier, Sania and Peng had defeated the Belgian-Dutch team of Elise Mertens and Demi Schuurs 7-5, 6-2 to enter the quarterfinals. The third-seeded pair had received a bye in the opening round.

The Indo-Chinese duo had reached the Wuhan Open semifinal last week, only to go down against top seeds and eventual champions Martina Hingis and Yung-Jan Chan.

-ANI