Thai girls advance in Khon Kaen

Nungnadda, unseeded but capable of vying for the crown, routed South Korean Lee Cho-won 6-2 6-3 in the opening round of the singles.

"She has good slices but her forehand is her weak side, so I tried to keep hitting to her forehand,'' said Nungnadda, who has won two ITF titles.

Her second-round opponent will be the winner of the clash between seventh-seeded Vlada Ekshibarova of Uzbekistan and Sophia Mulsup.

"If Sophia's forehand works, it's going to be dangerous. Vlada is fast and runs down every shot. It will be tough no matter who I play," added Nungnadda.

In an all-Thai affair, Varatchaya rallied from a first-set deficit to move past Varanya Vijaksanaboon 4-6 6-3 6-2. She will face either Lu Jia-xiang of China or Yoo Min-hwa of South Korea in the next round.

In the other first-round matches, fifth-seeded Isha Lakhani, a left-hander, demolished local wildcard entrant Nutwadee Suthiprapha 6-0 6-2. Japan's Etsuko Kitazaki wasted just two games to eliminate South Korean Hong Da-jong 6-0 6-2 while another Korean, Kim Sun-jung, ousted Eriko Mizuno of Japan 6-3 6-1.

Today, top seed Napaporn Tongsalee, the major Thai hope, opens her account against qualifier Jessy Rompies of Indonesia. Chinese second seed Huang Lei takes on Indonesia's Lutfiana-Aris Budiharto and Sanaa Bhambri of India, the third seed, confronts Qiu Si-si of China.