Khleang Ponlok (pictured, Tennis Cambodia)
The second month of the new Decathlon Junior and Open Series began with the Junior Event on Saturday and Sunday and, though the 46 participants featured many familiar faces, this month saw a majority of the age categories welcome new champions.
Added this month were the Boys and Girls 10 & Under age categories, where the boys had a draw of six players and the girls completed a four player round robin of best of three tiebreakers.
Last month’s Mixed 10 & Under finalist, Sokhom Sokchannimol, returned better and stronger to win the Boys 10 & Under against Romain Lopez, losing the first tiebreaker 4-7 but coming back hard to win the next two 7-0 and 7-1.
Morm In, who competed in May’s Mixed 10 & Under category, took June’s Girls 10 & Under title, defeating her younger sister Morm On 7-1, 7-3 without dropping a match in the round robin.
In the Boys 12 & Under draw, Louis La Planeta from Ecole Francaise Internationale defeated Sovannroy Buth from Sunrise Children’s Village 4-2, 4-0.
Sunrise was also represented in the Boys 14 & Under draw by Samrith Bhutong and Khley Khloth. Bhutong, who was runner-up last month, took the title over school mate Khloth 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
As with the Boys 10 and 14 & Under divisions, the Boys 18 & Under champion was last month’s Decathlon finalist. This time around, in another three-set final, Khleang Ponlok overcame Leng Sarinreach 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Ho Sreynoch won yet again in the Girls 18 & Under three-player round robin. Chhieu Apsara finished with the next best record Sreynoch won their match-up 6-3, 6-2 to extend her local competition winning streak.
“I’m so happy to see that even in the second month of the Decathlon Series, there is clear improvement in a majority of the players. I also noticed that attitudes have changed and overall the players seem more focused and eager to perform well.
“It will be very interesting to track the progress in the coming months, but so far we’ve more than accomplished what we had intended by the series, which we can see from the healthy impact a competitive environment can nurture,” said Tennis Cambodia secretary-general Tep Rithivit.
Decathlon Cambodia, Pontoon Club, Cambodian Country Club and now a new sponsor in Pharmacie de la Gare made the June events possible.
June’s Decathlon Open Event, which will feature the national team, top juniors and the strongest local players, will take place this Saturday and Sunday.
