Wishaya underlines credentials as Thailand’s No 1
WISHAYA Trongcharoenchaikul lived up to expectations by overpowering the man he succeeded as Thailand’s No 1, Pol Wattanakul, to win the Singha Thailand Masters trophy at the Impact Academy Arena yesterday.
Big-serving Wishaya, who vanquished defending champion Sonchat Ratiwatana in straight sets in the semis, generated power from both wings to tame an out-of-condition Pol 6-4 6-2 for his first win of the year.
The 21-year-old forced a crucial break to go up 4-3 after Pol, returning to competition after two months off with a gastric complaint, committed a series of unforced errors. The Kingdom’s top player went on to dominate the rest of the match against an increasingly weary-looking Pol who struggled to keep the ball in play.
“I played the way I planned, holding my own serve since he has solid service games that are hard to break,” said Wishaya, ranked No 799 in the world.
“When I had chances to break, I seized them. This win is a good boost for me going in to the ITF events in Hua Hin,” said the Bangkokian, who will lead the local challenge in three ITF Futures starting on Monday at the seaside resort’s True Arena complex. He took home Bt150,000 in prize money yesterday while Pol clinched a bonus Bt10,000 for hitting a tournament high of 25 aces.
Pol Wattanakul Receives Bt10,000 Reward for Serving the Most Aces in the tournament.
On the women’s side, fourth seed Varunya Wongteanchai settled a score with Bunyawi Thamchaiwat, stunning the defending champion with a gritty 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) win after two hours.
Varunya lost to Bunyawi by the same score a few days ago, but this time she held her nerve on pressure points.
“I did some homework ahead of the final. I made some easy mistakes on crucial points the last time we played. So I knew I had to be focused at all times,” said Varunya, who stood firm in the face of a fight-back as Bunyawi accelerated from 0-4 down to level things at four-all in the second set.
“She played so well when she was behind. I was a bit concerned when she hit back but I hung in there and fought tooth and nail. This win is such a fantastic way to finish my season,” said Varunya, who is taking her Bt100,000 winner’s cheque home to Chiang Rai where she plans a three-week holiday.
