BEIJING, Sept 20: Peng Shuai ended the China Open dream of Martina Hingis, bundling the fifth seed out 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday to keep local hopes alive at the quarter-final stage.

Switzerland’s Hingis, making her debut in the tournament this year, lost in 59 minutes. The former world number one did not earn a break point and lost her own serve on three successive occasions from the final game of the opening set.

Hingis’s stutters allowed the 49th-ranked Peng to take control and she finished off the job to avenge a US Open loss to Hingis last year.

The Swiss, who lifted her only title of the year in Tokyo, has now gone eight tournaments without reaching a quarter-final and stands 24-13 this season.

Peng, the only remaining Chinese player in the field, will next play 2006 finalist and third seed Amelie Mauresmo.

French player Mauresmo returned from a long lay-off to post a storming 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Pole Raluca Olaru, burying bitter memories of two lost months.

The double Grand Slam winner in 2006, who underwent emergency appendectomy in February and has since played patchily as she struggles to recover, reached the quarter-finals of an event for the first time since June.

Mauresmo is competing for the first time since the Fed Cup in July, after which she hung up her rackets and skipped the US Open, short on both form and motivation.

The French former number one is all but writing off this season, choosing instead to concentrate on getting into shape for 2008.

An abdominal muscle injury forced titleholder Svetlana Kuznetsova to withdraw before the start of her opening match. The strain of playing a US Open final two weekends ago followed by her feat in leading Russia to the Fed Cup trophy just days ago in Moscow proved to be too much for the top seed.Her place was taken by Argentine Maria Emilia Salerni, who beat American Abigail Spears 6-2, 7-5.

Lindsay Davenport, surprise winner of last week’s Bali event as she plays for the first time in a year following retirement and the birth of her child in June, sideswiped fellow American Julie Ditty 6-0, 6-2.

Wednesday’s results (x denotes seeding):

Second round: Amelie Mauresmo (FRA x3) bt Raluca Olaru (POL) 6-2, 6-2; Maria-Emilia Salerni (ARG) bt Abigail Spears (US) 6-2, 7-5; Agnes Szavay (HUN x6) bt Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4; Peng Shuai (CHN) bt Martina Hingis (SUI x5) 7-5, 6-1.

First round: Lindsay Davenport (US) bt Julie Ditty (US) 6-0, 6-2; Tamira Paszek (AUT) bt Jill Craybas (US) 6-3, 6-3.

KIRILENKO STORMS INTO QUARTER-FINALS

KOLKATA: Russian fourth seed Maria Kirilenko breezed through to the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Ekaterina Ivanova in the 175,000-dollar WTA Sunfeast Open here on Wednesday.

Ivanova, also from Russia, appeared clueless in the first set and although she tried to rally in the second, Kirilenko proved unbeatable.

Eighth seed Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan and Tzipora Obziler of Israel also won their second-round matches in this Tier-III event.

Obziler, who upset ninth seed Russian Yaroslava Shvedova on Tuesday, took time to get into her swing before winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 against Australian Casey Dellacqua. Chan made short work of Jarmila Gajdosova from Slovakia, winning 6-1, 6-2.

Earlier in the day, Slovak

second seed Daniela Hantuc-hova moved into the

second round with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Poland’s Maria Domachowska.

Hantuchova’s powerful serve and trademark double-handed backhand gave the Polish qualifier little chance in the one-sided encounter that lasted barely an hour.

Seventh seed Flavia Penetta also advanced to the second round with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Indian wildcard Tara Iyer. England’s Anne Keothavong and Maria Koryttseva of Ukraine also made it to the second round.

Keothavong defeated Italian Sara Errani 6-4, 6-4 while Koryttseva beat Australian Monique Adamczak 6-3, 6-3.

In a late-night match Tues-

day, top seed Marion Bartoli

of France was shocked by 18-year-old American Vania King

6-1, 7-5.

In another late match Tuesday, India’s Sunitha Rao, ranked 211, overcame a scare at the hands of Sandy Gumulya of Indonesia before making it to the second round with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win.

Wednesday’s results:

Second round:

Chan Yung-jan (TPE x8) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (SLO) 6-1, 6-2; Tzipora Obziler (ISR) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5; Maria Kirilenko (RUS x4) bt Ekaterina Ivanova (RUS) 6-1, 6-4.

First round: Daniela Hantuchova (SLO x2) bt Maria Domachowska (POL) 6-2, 6-1; Anne Keothavong (GBR) bt Sara Errani (ITA) 6-4, 6-4; Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) bt Monique Adamczak (AUS) 6-3, 6-3; Flavia Penetta (ITA x7) bt Tara Iyer (IND) 6-2, 6-1. –Agencies