Cambodian Davis Cup player Phalkun Mam, seeded third in the men’s pre-qualifying draw, was taken all the way to a super tie-break before beating local hope Thanakorn Silachoat 4-6,6-1,10-6 yesterday in the Singha Bangkok Open, the second event in the TATP Tour series being held at the Impact Tennis Academy.

A slow start by Phalkun, who had a first round bye, allowed Thanakorn to grab the first set initiative. But finding his touch with his consistent forehands, Phalkun took the second set for the loss of just one game.

Using that momentum to his advantage, Phalkun forced the Thai youngster out of the super tie break.

While Phalkun’s flight up the draw kept the Cambodian camp in good spirits, there was general disappointment earlier in the day when Our Sarith, who is on his first overseas trip, went down fighting in the second round to top seed Poovadol Boontrakul of Thailand 3-6,6-2,10-5.

Things just got more difficult Sarith came out of the gates all guns blazing to take the first set, but once Boontrakul found a strategy to counter his rival, things just got more difficult for Sarith.

Boontrakul exploited Sarith’s aversion to returns hit with no pace by lobbing the ball back, which flustered the Cambodian left hander.

During the 10 point tie-break, Sarith was clearly out of sorts.

During his first round match on Saturday, Sarith easily got the measure of Pattarapong Detpech of Thailand 6-3, 6-2.

Meanwhile, two other members of the national team, Bun Kenny and Long Samneang, will hit the courts today for the first round of the qualifiers.

While Kenny got into this draw as a wild card, Samneang made the grade on the strength of his performance in the first event in late March.