Luksika Kumkhum of the Thai women’s national team defeated Emma Flood from Norway 2 sets to nil at the Chang Thailand ITF Pro Circuit tennis event held at the Siam Bayshore Hotel in Pattaya on October 16.
Laksika Khamkam, left, and Emma Flood, right, pose with their trophies following the women’s singles final.
It was the first professional win in the young career of Kumkhum, otherwise known as ‘Nong Lak’, who until recently was ranked outside the top 1,000 in the world but is a fast improving player and with the win now moves up provisionally to No. 762.
Her opponent in the final, Emma Flood, is currently ranked No. 771 in the world and she started the match the better of the two players as she raced into a 4-2 lead in the first set. Kumkhum was able to use her impressive forehand to break back however and tie the match up at 4-all, before going on to take the set at 6-4.
In the second set the Thai player broke her opponent’s serve early and was able to run out an impressive 6-4, 6-3 winner in just 1 hour 40 minutes on court. She received a cheque for US$1,568 or approximately 47,040 THB for her winning effort.
The doubles final saw Thailand’s Waratchaya Wongtianchai team up with Chen Yi of Taiwan to face off against Jung Ting Fei (Taiwan) and Lin Zho (China). Wongtianchai and her partner proved to be too strong for their opponents on the day as they ran out 7-5, 6-2 winners to collect the 20,000 THB prize money.
The Former Minister of Tourists and Sports, Sonthaya Khunplom, and the Regional Marketing Manager of Thai Beverage Company, Worapot Pongpitchaya- wattana, were on hand to present the prize money and trophies to all the finalists.
