Nyem Srey Noch pulls off consolation win

AFTER a nervous start filled with anxiety during the first week of competition in the ATF 14 and Under Development tennis events inVietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, the five Cambodian greenhorns lifted themselves up with some inspiring performances, as Nyem Srey Noch recorded a fighting three-set win over her rival from Bhutan before going down in the second round to a far superior Mongolian girl who has an Asian ranking of 142 in the age group.

Having lost all her four matches, finishing 28 out of 30 players in the first event, Srey Noch refused to let the results shake her confidence as she completed a 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 win over Karma Yuden Dorji in a long drawn match.

But for the first female player from Siem Reap to represent the country, the second-round clash against Yesugen Ganbataar of Mongolia proved too hot to handle. The Mongolian used her court skills and speed to overrun the Cambodian 6-0, 6-0 .

“She was far from disgraced going down in two love sets. She did show fighting qualities. She was the only one to win a match during our two-week trip and that is one positive we are happy with since all our players have just come out of basic tennis training,” noted travelling coach Som, who handles the grassroots program in Siem Reap.

Meanwhile, Lou Raksmey also felt the pressure of playing a superior rival in the girls singles, going down 0-6, 0-6 to Aida Pasonova of Kazakhstan.

The boys doubles brought some cheer to the Cambodian camp when Rouert Sampun and Soum Rootha won their firstround match against Saiyadeth (Laos) and Iunusov (Kazakhstan) 1-6, 6-4 and 10-6 in the super tie break. The pair had earlier won a back draw match during the first week.

But in the next round the Cambodian pair fell flat against Hassan Gul from Pakistan and Hossain from Bangladesh 1-6, 0-6.

In singles action, Chhieu Chaya lost to Hein Htet Zaw of Myanmar 1-6, 3-6, Rouert Sampun lost to K Batbayar of Mongolia 1-4, 1-4 and Soum Rootha lost to De Rong Li of Macau 1-4, 2-4.