Cool Thailand back in Group 1

Thailand will return to the Davis Cup Zone Asia/Oceania Qualifying Group I for the first time in five years after outplaying Pakistan 3-0 in their Group II final round tie yesterday

 The Ratiwatana twins, Sonchat and Sanchai, closed the deal for Thailand after the home team established a convincing 2-0 lead from the opening singles matches through Danai Udomchoke and Pruchya Isarow on Friday. 

The siblings easily took the third point for the Kingdom, routing Aisam Qureshi and Aqeel Khan 7-5 6-2 6-2 in just one hour and 48 minutes.

 “This is beyond us. We thought the match would be close and take much longer but we closed it out in three sets,” said Sonchat after his 12th Davis Cup doubles victory.

 “It was tough at the beginning until we got used to Aqeel’s serves and broke him finally in the 11th game of the first set. From then on it was pretty much easy,” said Sanchai, who was making his first appearance in the Cup this year after he and his brother skipped the first two rounds.

 Despite Qureshi’s impressive portfolio, including a runner-up doubles trophy at the 2010 US Open, the match failed to live up to the hype. 

Sonchat and Sanchai found Khan to be the weakest link and duly exploited that knowledge. The Thai duo kept attacking the underdog most of the time and their strategy bore fruit as they broke Khan’s serves several times.

After holding their serves solidly, Thailand struck first blood when they managed to break Khan’s serve, thanks to two straight errors from the Pakistani No 2. Sonchat then had to fight back from 0-30 in the 12th game and wrapped up the opener.

Thailand managed an early break in the third game of the second set, also on Khan’s serve. The duo broke again in the fifth game, this time on Qureshi’s serve, after the Pakistani played a loose service game. 

When the home side built a 2-0 set lead, they carried on the momentum for the rest of the match and never allowed the visitors to get into a comfort zone.

Thailand will be promoted to Group I next year for the first time since 2009, regardless of today’s meaningless rubbers.

“It was very crucial to win this rubber after we won two points from the opening day. Now we won the Group II and will get back to Group I after a long time,” said team captain Paradorn Srichaphan.

Thailand will join South Korea, China, New Zealand, Taiwan and India in Group I next year. It will be a Herculean task for Thailand, no matter who they face in the group as all have better singles players in their team

“We have some hard work waiting for us in Group I and we will have to be very well prepared for that. It’s great to get back to Group I but it will be very tough to stay there,” said Paradorn.  However, the victory has helped boost the morale of the team, which will fly to Incheon for the Asian Games this Tuesday

 “We hope to carry this momentum into the Games as they are playing good tennis at the moment. Everybody is in good shape. We expect to bring a medal back to Thailand,” the Thai skipper said.

 Meanwhile, the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand president Suwat Liptapanlop promised to grant the team a Bt1-million incentive for its promotion to Group I.