Thailand, Sri Lanka and China, P.R. triumph at Asian Qualification
Thailand’s quad wheelchair tennis team made history on home soil at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup Asian Qualification in Pattaya after joining the Sri Lankan men’s team and the Chinese women’s team in earning victory at the third of the four regional qualification events for the 2023 BNP Paribas World Team Cup.
As Thailand hosted a World Team Cup regional qualification event for the first time since they were introduced in 2012. the four days of competition included the first of two quad qualification events this year combining teams from Asia and the Americas, meaning that teams of quad players from Chile and Ecuador were among the 16 teams from 10 nations competing in Pattaya.
Seeded third, Thailand made light work of their round-robin group of three nations, beating both second seeds Chinese Taipei and Ecuador 3-0 to earn their place in the final, with only Thai No. 2 Chonlaphat Sorod in any danger of dropping a set before defeating Chinese Taipei’s former Japan Open finalist Tzu-Hsuan Huang 6-4 7-6(6).
It was a different story for top seeds Chile, who only needed to beat Korea Republic in the other round-robin group to book their place in the final. However, that proved to be a difficult enough task as Pablo Araya and Francisco Cayulef managed to recover from 9-8 down to beat Min Hyeong Cha and Myung Je Kim 11-9 in a deciding match tie-break in the deciding doubles rubber.
Thailand’s only loss during the week came in the final as Cayulef defeated Thai No. 1 Sombut Yampaha 6-2 6-4 but Sorod and Yampaha were more than equal to the task that faced them in the doubles rubber to give Thailand a 6-2 6-2 win and an overall 2-1 victory.
Thailand will now compete for the quad title for the first time when the 2023 BNP Paribas World Team Cup World Group takes place in Vilamoura, Portugal on 1-7 May.
“I am very proud of the team's effort throughout the competition,” said Thailand’s quad team captain Teerat 'Sun' Yimyong. “We were very happy to play at home and this helped us progress to the World Group event. All the players are very excited to represent Thailand in Portugal.”
Sri Lanka men beat Thailand to earn qualification
Winners of both the first Asian Qualification in 2012 and again in 2019, Sri Lanka’s men saw their hopes of progressing to the BNP Paribas World Team Cup World Group this year face an immediate threat after they were taken to a deciding doubles rubber on the opening day of competition by the Chinese team.
However, from 9-7 down in the doubles match tie-break, Suresh Dharmasena and Gamini Dissanayake turned their fortunes around to defeat Zhenxu Ji and Dong Shun Jiang 2-6 6-2 (11-9) before Sri Lanka went on to beat second seeds Australia and Pakistan 3-0 to finish top of their group, therefore booking a place in the men’s final.
A tremendous week for the host nation saw fourth seeds Thailand beat top seeds Korea Republic 2-0 on the third and last day of round-robin group matches to also earn a place in the final before Thai No. 2 Naluemitr Benkhunthod beat Dissanayake 6-2 6-4 to give Thailand a 1-0 lead in the final. However, Dharmasena levelled the contest for the loss of just three games and Sri Lanka earned what were ultimately the decisive service breaks late in both sets of the doubles decider before Dharmasena wrapped up Sri Lanka’s 2-1 victory over Thailand with an ace.
Chinese women’s team beat Thailand to seal qualification
A four-way round-robin contest to decide the women’s qualification event saw Thailand again involved in the deciding contest after beating second seeds Korea Republic 2-1 and India 2-0.
China, P.R. also arrived at the last day of play undefeated after beating Korea Republic and India 3-0, the 2017 BNP Paribas World Team Cup women’s champions dropping just one game in six matches on their way to the deciding contest against former World Team Cup bronze medallists Thailand.
With the Chinese team having won the opening singles contest 6-0 6-0 it was left to former world No. 6 Sakhorn Khanthasit to try and upset current world No. 5 Zhenzhen Zhu to force a deciding doubles rubber and Khanthasit used all her 25 years of World Team Cup experience to take the opening set comfortably. But she could not maintain her advantage as Zhu battled back to prevail 1-6 6-3 6-2 after two hours and 22 minutes, sealing a 2-0 victory for China, P.R. and qualification for the World Group in Portugal.
Turkey to host remaining European Qualification
With three of this year’s four BNP Paribas World Team Cup Qualification events now complete Sri Lanka join African Qualification winners Morocco and Americas Qualification winners Brazil among the entries for the men’s World Group in Portugal on 1-7 May, while China P.R. joins African Qualification winners Nigeria among the women’s entry along with Chile, winners of the women’s event at the Americas Qualification.
The European Qualification takes place in Turkey on 22-26 March, which will include the second of this year’s quad qualification events.
2023 BNP Paribas World Team Cup - World Group Entry List (04.03.22)