Thailand rebound to overcome Singapore
[TENNIS] Thailand recovered from a slight hiccup to beat unfancied Singapore 2-1 for their second straight win in the Group A Fed Cup Zone Asia/Oceania Zone Qualifying Group I tie at the scenic Circles Hotel Tennis Centre in Christchurch yesterday.
The Kingdom, who demolished Hong Kong 3-0 on Monday, got off to a poor start when Cup debutant Nungnudda Wannasuk was upset by Beier Ko 2-6 6-3 6-2 before world No 68 Tamarine Tanasugarn levelled the tie with an effortless win over Lee Wei-ping 6-1 6-0. The Thai team was on the threshold of defeat when Montinee Tangphong and Napaporn Tongsalee lost the first set to Wei-Ping and Ko Lee 2-6 in the deciding doubles before coming back to life in the next two sets 6-4 6-0 to grab pole position in the group. "I sent Nungnudda in for the singles because I was confident that we are stronger than Singapore and I wanted the youngster to gain some experience,'' said Thai captain Vittaya Samrej. "Mentally she is tough but in terms of experience she stills needs to learn more. But I'm sure she can develop into a fine player and will be a source of strength for the team in future,'' added Vittaya.
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