Phuket’s first ITF tennis tournament heads into finals weekend

PHUKET: The Chang ITF Pro Circuit tennis tournament being held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) saw another surprise exit from the competition on Thursday with number two seed Jimmy Wang form Taipei losing to the unseeded Korean, Song-Jae Cho in two sets 6-2, 7-6.

Other singles results went with form, but disappointment for Thailand came when their young star, Kittiphong Wachiramanowong, lost to number five seed Zhe Li from China, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia, who is seeded six, defeated another Thai player, Perakiat Siriluethaiwattana, 6-4, 6-1 to advance.

Number four seed Laurent Rochette of France put paid to Jeson Petrambon’s participation in the competition with a 6-4, 6-4 win over the Philippines player.

Rohan Gajjar of India progressed at the expense of Italian Marc Reyes, 6-2, 6-2.

In the final singles match of the morning, number one seed Danai Udomchoke eased into the next round defeating Abhijeet Tiwari of India, 6-2, 6-1.

After noon, Mick Lescure of France lost to Richard Becker of Germany (no relation to the great Boris Becker) 6-4, 6-4.

And in the last singles match to finish, Jannick Yankovits nudged victory over Bumpei Sato by a score of 6-4, 7-5.

Thailand had four doubles teams in the tournament going into yesterday, but the draw and an unfortunate loss would only see two teams progress.

Brother’s Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana easily defeated Roy Hobbs of Singapore and Tiwari, 6-2, 6-2, while an all Thailand affair saw Pruchya Isarow and Nuttanon Kadchapanan upset number three seeds Weerapat Doakmaiklee and Kittiphong, 7-6, 3-6 (11-9).

Korean pair Cho and Ji Sung Nam ended the hopes of the fourth Thai team, Kiratai Siributwong and Perakiat, advancing on a 6-3, 2-6 (10-8) score.

In the final doubles match of the day, Victor Baluda of Russia and Jimmy Wang of Taipei shocked the number four seeds Gajjar and Rungkat beating them 7-5, 6-1.

The Phuket Gazette sponsors the Chang ITF Pro Circuit 2011 tournament.

Pick up a copy of the Gazette today for a full report on the tournament at TSLC, or visit thanyapura.com

— Neil Quail