Men’s Singles champion Bun Kenny retrieves a backhand during the final against Long Samneang at the Cambodian Country Club in Phnom Penh on Sunday. Christophe Gargiulo
Coming off his semi-final appearance in the third leg of the Malaysian National Tennis Circuit event in Kuala Lumpur, Bun Kenny continues to produce great tennis results back in Cambodia.
In his second appearance in the Decathlon Open Series, Kenny defended last month’s title, this time defeating Long Samneang 6-1, 6-1. From the quarterfinal round on, where he met various National Team and Junior National Team members, he would only lose a total of four games.
Kenny is set to compete in the upcoming Asia/Oceania Zone Davis Cup Group IV event in Amman, Jordan in September.
Coming up in August for Kenny will be a string of International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures events where he will compete against other professionals, including top players from around the Asian region.
Tep Timothy found his way back into the semi-finals of the Open event after bowing out in the quarterfinals last month.
After playing inspired tennis in his round of 16 match against two-time Sea Games bronze medallist (2007 and 2009) Tan Nysan, Timothy progressed by defeating sixth seed Ith Bunthea 8-0 before falling to Samneang 6-2, 6-2.
Sreynoch still unbeaten
Top Cambodian junior Khleang Ponlok made a second consecutive semi-final appearance but could not make a dent against the polished Kenny.
Ho Sreynoch claimed her third Decathlon Open Women’s Singles title and owns a perfect record since the series’ May start.
This title did not come without effort, though, as a much improved Chhieu Apsara made a late comeback in the second set.
After Ho won the first set 6-2, Apsara made sure the second was far closer after deciding it was time to try something different.
Apsara slowed down the pace, hitting many slow, loopy and deep balls to throw Sreynoch off of her timing.
In the end it came down to the tiebreaker, where Sreynoch’s experience and poise saw her take the match, but not without a fight from the younger Apsara.
Tennis Cambodia secretary-general Tep Rithivit told The Post :“I am thrilled to see that this series has turned into something that most of our players really look forward to.
“Especially among our top juniors who, fresh off their Asian School Games competition in Indonesia – and with just a day’s rest in between their return and the Decathlon event – were all happy and in good spirits to compete.
“The culture of competition and knowing that there is something to train for is making all the difference, and for this I would like to thank all of our sponsors once more for believing in our cause.”
