The Thai men's tennis team are assured of at least two more Asian Games bronze medals when Danai Udomchoke and the Ratiwatana cleared their quarter-final matches at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday.

But Tamarine Tanasugarn's dream of claiming her first Asian Games gold medal was shattered after she was forced to retire from her quarter-final against third-seeded Japanese Akiko Nakamura after spraining her ankle.

The Thai sailed through the first set 6-3 but went down 6-3 in the second before throwing in the towel while trailing 4-1 in the decider.

Suchanan Viratprasert later joined Tamarine at the exit door, having no answer to the power game of India's Sania Mirza who won the quarter-finals 6-3 6-2.

The third-seeded Danai moved into the semi-finals in his third appearance in the Games, outlasting young South Korean star Jun Woong-sun 7-6 (4-7) 3-6 6-3 in one hour and 55 minutes.

"Jun hits hard and has a good serve. I had to take the ball early otherwise I wouldn't have beaten him," said Danai who will play Japan's Go Soeda, who stunned second-seeded Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan 4-6 6-2 6-1.

Second-seeded Sonchat and Sanchai avenged their defeat in last week's men's team event to Japan's Satoshi Iwabuchi and Takao Suzuki, beating their rivals 7-5 6-4 in the men's doubles quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, top-seed Chinese Li Na fought back from a set down against defending champion Iroda Tulyaganova yesterday to advance to the semi-finals of the women's singles.

The world No 21, the highest ranked player here, overcame a slow start to sneak through in the second set before powering her way to victory in the third, eventually winning 3-6 7-5 6-2.

Li said her Uzbek opponent's lack of concentration and her own determination had given her the edge.

"I played okay. I was a bit tired after playing too much tennis yesterday," said the Chinese girl.

"Iroda was using top spin a lot, and she was serving well. So, after losing the first set, I told myself I can do it and I hung on. She came back into the match three times in the second set. But she was losing concentration quite often."

The player Li considers her biggest challenge at these Games, team-mate Zheng Jie, also had a tough time against Taiwan's Chan Yung Jan before prevailing 3-6 6-4 6-2.

In contrast, the favourite for gold in the men's singles, South Korean Lee Hyung-taik cruised into the semi-finals, downing Ukbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-1 7-5.

"I'm very happy to get to the semi-finals. I've played Istomin a few times in the past, and in this match the second set was difficult because his serves and ground strokes were very good," the top seed said.

The world No 49 faces Cecil Mamiit from the Philippines who downed Taiwan's Wang Yeu Tzuoo 2-6 6-2 6-2 in his quarter-final outing.

The Nation, Agencies

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