Nungnadda, Varanya Into Final Eights

   Nungnadda Wannasuk and Varanya Vijuksanaboon remained solid in the US$10,000 SAT-PTT ITF Women's Circuit in Khon Kaen after they eliminated their second round opponents in straight sets at the Srichaphan Tennis Academy on Wednesday.

   Nungnadda, who plans to work with former Thai No 1 Thanakorn Srichapha, the eldest brother of Paradorn, upset fifth-seeded Hunag Lei of China 6-3 6-4. She said Thanakorn gave her some tips on how to tackle with the Chinese opponent.

   "I was told to be patient and waited for opportunities to attack. She has good serves and replies everything back.,'' said Nungnadda.

  "I kept the balls in play and went for my shots whenever I had opportunities,'' said Nungnadda who next faces Lee Cho-won of South Korea.

  "I will have to run for the balls a lot because she hits everything back. But I know how to play her and will stick  to my game plan,'' added the winner of two ITF trophies.

The Thai girl said she just recovered from a respiratory system problem that she picked up during a tournament in Indonesia.

   "I was allergic to smokes and many fans smoke during the match which was played in indoor. I was sick and had to stop playing for a month,'' said the girl from Nakhon Ratchasima.

   Varanya Vijuksanaboon emerged as a surprise quarter-finalist as she easily trounced Lu Jia-jing  of China  6-3 6-0 in the all qualifier clash. Yet a heavy task awaits her in the final eights as her opponent is fourth-seeded Chen Yi of Taiwan.

   Yi has now become the only seeded player left in the competition as three seeded competitors were eliminated. Yi herself had to struggle to get out of trouble against local wild card entrant Uthumporn Pudtra 6-4 7-6 (8-6).

   Liang Chen of China and Ankita Bhambri of India were the other seeded victims when they went down to qualifiers. The third-seeded Liang was shut out of the tournament by the hand of Jessy Rompies of Indonesia 1-6 3-6 whereas tournament's No 8 Bhambri fell to Lee Cho-won of South Korea 1-6 6-3 4-6.

     Uzbek  Vlada Ekshibarova, the conqueror of Napaporn, extended her winning streaks to 7-0 in two weeks, losing just three games to move past Keren Shlomo of Israel  6-1 6-2.  The first leg champion is the clear favourite as she takes on the less experienced Varanya in today's quarter-finals.

   Hong Kon's Venise Chan Wing-Yau ended the run of South Korean qualifier Yoo Min-hwa  6-3 6-2 and Kim Sun-Jung of South Korea picked off  Eriko Mizuno of Japan  6-1 6-3.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation