Not Kamonwan's Day
It was an undesirable day for local rising star Kamonwan Buayam as she had to endure with two defeats both in the singles and doubles matches in the US$10,000 Thailand ITF Women's Pro Circuit Week 1 at the True Arena Hua Hin on Friday.
Seeded third in the singles Kamonwan was hampered by blisters on her left foot which resulted in her 6-2 6-3 defeat to Guo Hanyu of China in just 66 minutes in the semi-finals. The defeat meant the 20-year-old has yet to move beyond the semi-final stage of an ITF event since the start of the year.
Later in the afternoon Kamonwan teamed up with Taiwanese partner Lee Pei-Chi in the doubles final in hope to make amends from the singles competition. The pair, the top seed in the doubles, however, were stunned by Cho I-Hsuan of Taiwan and Zhang Yukun of China 6-2 3-6 7-10.
Kamonwan and Lee again had to settle with the runner-up’s trophy for two straight weeks after losing the doubles final of the US$25,0000 ITF event here last Friday.
In the other singles semi-final, Indian Karman Kaur Thandi upset seventh seed Kang Jia-Qi of China 5-7 6-3 7-5 after three hours of battle. The Indian teenager is looking forward to winning her first ITF title after losing the final in a home ITF event in Indore earlier this year.
The qualifying of week 2 starts today. Kamonwan will not be participating in the two remaining circuits to keep her body fresh for four ITF events in China, starting next week.
