Lakareber Abe, Gabriella Then advance to US Girls' Junior final

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Lakareber Abe and Gabriella Then each won two matches Friday at Sycamore Hills to advance to the 36-hole final in the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship.

The 17-year-old Abe, from Angleton, Texas, beat Kathleen Scavo of Benicia, Calif., 4 and 3 in the morning quarterfinals, and topped Bethany Wu of Diamond Bar, Calif., 1 up in the afternoon semifinals. Abe will be a senior in high school and is set to play at Alabama.

Than, the 17-year-old Upland, Calif., player who will be a freshman at Southern California, beat Yueer Feng of Orlando, Fla., 1 up in the semifinals, and edged Megan Khang of Rockland, Mass., 2 and 1 in the semifinals.