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Published on July 24, 2007

The women's singles top seed, who has not survived beyond the first round in her five previous tournaments, reached the doubles quarter-finals with a 6-4 7-5 win over Indonesian Lutfiana-Aris Budiharto and Hong Kong's Yang Zi-jun.

They were not the only Thais to advance to the next stage yesterday as wildcard Sophia Mulsap and Varatchaya Wongteanchai went past Chinese Lee Wei-ping and Yang Yi-sin 6-4 6-3.

However, another wildcard pair Uthumporn Pudtra and Natchanok Saenyaukhot were halted in their tracks. The Thais went down to second-seeded Ankita Bhambri and Rushmi Chakravarthi of India 1-6 6-2 1-6.

After training for three months in Spain, Thai No 2 Nudnida Luangnam was back in town and entered the doubles competition in the tournament. She and her Taiwanese partner Chen Yi downed Thailand's Nicha Lertpitaksinchai and Kanyapat Narattana 6-2 2-6 6-3.

The singles action starts today with seven Thai contenders in the main draw. Top seed Napaporn, after crashing out in legs one and two in Khon Kaen, needs a win over Indian Meghha Vakaria to get back her confidence.

Teen prodigy Noppawan, who skipped the first two series to spend time with her family in Chiang Mai, is drawn to take on Indonesian qualifier Budiharto. The 15-year-old is one of the locals who have the potential to challenge for the trophy.

Last week's winner Nungnadda Wannasuk withdrew to keep fresh for the tour in Japan next month.