Pattaya rising tennis star Thitirat Kanaphuet
wins five medals in three weeks
You may not have heard the name before but Thitirat Kanaphuet is currently making plenty of waves in the local and national junior tennis scene. This 12-year old girl has only been playing tennis for less than three years but is already making her mark on the Thai national rankings LTAT, now ranking at 38 in the under-14’s and soon to increase this with her recent win in Udon Thani, where she got a gold medal in the under-14’s and a silver in the under-16’s.
Thitirat also recently won a gold medal in Phitsanulok and followed that up with a silver and bronze in Bangkok, often competing against girls several years her senior.
Thitirat Kanaphuet poses with her certificates and medals following her success in the recent junior tournament in Udon Thani.
Thitirat has received a great deal of help from her coaches, Mong and Tee, who are both leading Chonburi tennis trainers. She also boosts her fitness by working out with her personal fitness trainer Louie sun. She trains hard every day and gets full support from her school Wuttichot Bilingual, which is an international school on Sukhumvit Road.
Thitirat’s medal from a Toyota Rising Young Stars of Tennis event.
All this support is helping her take small but important steps on her path to fulfilling her dream of becoming a professional tennis player and to one day winning the Pattaya Open and Wimbledon. Her idol has always been Roger Federer but she also likes to follow the fortunes of her current favourites Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Thitirat said after her recent on the road successes, “It’s been a perfect three weeks me and I will remember these three weeks forever.”
Thitirat will continue to travel all over Thailand to take part in various competitions and will also start competing internationally once she turns 13 and is able to graduate to a full ITF junior member.
We wish her every success and will make a point to remember the name, Thitirat Kanaphuet – it could just be flashing up on a Wimbledon scoreboard in the not too distant future.
