Cambodia’s Long Samneang defied doctor’s orders and took to the court for his second-round match against Taiwan’s Tung Lin Wu in the ITF Junior Tennis Tournament at the Indonesian city of Surabaya yesterday.

Considerably weakened and disoriented by the after effects of Sunday night’s sinus attack, the 17-year-old Samneang could hardly do anything right and went down 6-1, 6-1.

It came as a surprise even to national team coach Braen Aneiros that Samneang was willing to play, considering the fact that the previous day the player was in distress, suffering from a severe headache and a runny nose, although he pulled through his first round match.

“I thought that he was too weak to play, but he insisted on playing. I must admire his courage, though I was a bit concerned about his state of health worsening,” Aneiros told the Post.

Within minutes of being notified by the coach about Samneang’s plight and second-round loss, Tennis Federation of Cambodia secretary-general Tep Rithivit instructed the player to return to Phnom Penh immediately.

“I told Samneang to skip next week’s engagement and rush back.

We have to ensure that he consults a doctor for a brain scan since he is complaining of severe headaches,” said the general-secretary.

“While it is unfortunate that he could not make the best use of the break he got as a lucky loser, I am proud of him upholding our motto of never quitting.”

To contact the reporter on this story: H S Manjunath at [email protected]