Korean Yoo Mi, runner-up in the kick-off leg last week, ended the country’s title bid by beating Fil-American Riza Zalameda, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the PLDT Smart ITF Women’s Circuit Week 2 Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Yoo, currently ranked No. 631 in the world, relied on her solid groundstrokes to dispatch the last Filipino bet in the tournament. Other RP bets bombed out early in the tournament.

The Korean will face either top pick Elodie Rogge-Dietrich or fifth seed Liu Shaozhuo.

Korean seventh pick Han Sung-hee also stormed into the semifinals when compatriot and Week 1 champion Lee Ye-ra retired due to cramps after trailing Han, 4-3, in the first set.

Han, a quarterfinalist last week, will face the winner between Japanese third seed Mari Inoue and No. 8 Nicha Lertpitaksinchai of Thailand.

Losing the first set after stumbling into a handful of unforced errors, Zalameda regained her form and won the first three games in the second set.

But Yoo, who has yet to win a title this year, came back with crisp shots to win the next four games and regained the momentum.

Zalameda only managed to win the eighth frame as Yoo with mixed her shots well to finally end the Fil-Am’s challenge in one hour and 27 minutes.

“She’s tough, she pushed me up to play my best,” said Zalameda, who has been traveling and competing abroad for the past year.

In women’s doubles, Filipino bet Czarina Mae Arevalo and German partner Katharina Lehnert booked a finals seat after Lee and Korean partner Kim Sun-jung forfeited their match due to Lee’s pulled muscle on her left foot.

Arevalo and Lehnert clash with the winner between the No. 3 pair Gally De Wael of Belgium and Rogge-Dietrich and unseeded Koreans Yoo and Han Na-lae.