Danai gets closer to Universiade Gold

Danai Udomchoke recieves a treatment for his injured foot and knee.

The match was the toughest assignment by far for the top seed who dropped only five games in his four previous rounds, each of which never last longer than 60 minutes.

"I broke him in the first games of both sets which really helped. I would have been under pressure if I hadn't started well,'' said Danai who waits a winner between South Korea's An Jae-sung and France's Charles Antoine Brezac in the final.

"The South Korean guy is consistent player but I have never seen the French guy. I don't want to say that I'm 100 % confident of my chance but I have a little edge over them,'' said Danai who had to nurse his injured right foot after the match.

In the women's singles semi-final, Russian third-seeded Alisa Kleybanova breezed past the error-prone Chan Chin-wei of Taiwan, seeded second,  6-0 6-1.

The two-time Wimbledon junior doubles champion will take on either  Indonesian Sandy Gumulaya or Margit Ruutel of Estonia tomorrow in the gold medal match.

"I arrived here knowing it would be difficult as I had to play a lot of matches under the heat. I'm happy that I got through to the final and I will try to finish at the first place,'' said the first year Physical Education student of the Russian State University.

by Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation