Napaporn shrugged off a back injury to beat Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi 7-6 (7-1) 6-4, while 16-year-old Nungnadda toppled South Korean Hee Sun Lyoo-suh 6-1 6-4 yesterday as play was interrupted by rain.

Despite being bothered by a back injury which forced her to retire from a match last week in Tokyo, Napaporn was not at her best but summoned her strength to beat her former top 30 opponent.

"It's good to win a match when I was still not 100 per cent," she said. "This is only the second time I have picked up a racquet in a week. So my shots went a little here and there," added Napaporn, who admitted she felt worn out after long rallies.

"Normally I need a week or more to get fit for a tournament, especially this one which is quite big for me. I was lucky to win crucial points and she missed the ball. That's how I came through."

Napaporn will play sixth-seeded Mariana Diaz-Oliva of Argentina today.

Nungnadda of Nakhon Ratchasima utilised her aggressive groundstrokes to win the first set easily but had to cut down on her unforced errors to land the second set for revenge over the South Korean.

"I lost to her the last time we played in the Philippines, but that was on clay," she said. "But here on a hard surface I felt more comfortable than her.

"I knew she had a problem with her backhand and kept hitting the ball to that," added Nungnadda, who meets former top 100 player Angeligue Widjaja of Indonesia, the eighth seed, today.

"I expect a tough match with her but I have no fear. I have to go out there believing in myself," said the Thai teenager.

In the other two first round matches, Li Ting of China had a walk-over after South African Natalie Gradin failed to show up on court. South Korean Yoo Mi also advanced after

Thai Ketravee Attachoo was forced to forfeit with a left shoulder injury at 6-1 3-0.

Meanwhile, three local wild card entrants - Tamarine Tanasugarn, Suchanan Viratprasert and Nudnida Luangnam - were given tough opening matches after the main draw was conducted yesterday.

Tamarine is drawn to face Spanish seventh-seeded Lourdes Dominguez Lino, ranked No 45 in the world, while Suchanan was set to take on world No 91 Marta Domachowska of Poland.

But Nudnida will face the most daunting task against the up-and-coming Japanese star Aiko Nakamura, who reached the Japan Open final yesterday.

Top seed Marion Bartoli of France, who is also in the Japan Open final, will play Colombian Catalina Castano, second-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain will face a qualifier and third-seeded Nathalie Dechy will also play a qualifier.

But the first round highlight will be the clash between American sixth-seed Meghann Shaugnessy and Indian star Sania Mirza.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation