Trung
slams into national semis
(18-09-2009)
 |
High-handed: Tran
Lam Anh of HCM City’s Tanimex team returns to her teammate Nguyen Ai
Ngoc Van in the women’s singles of National Championship
quarter-finals yesterday. She won 6-7, 6-1, 6-0. — VNA/VNS Photo Quoc
Khanh |
HA NOI — Becamex Binh
Duong player, Nguyen Thanh Trung, booked a place in the National Tennis
Championship’s semi-final round after beating Tran Thanh Hoang of Soc Trang
6-3, 6-2 yesterday in Ha Noi.
Trung, who easily entered
the quarter-finals, only needed a hour and a half to beat Hoang for his next
round berth.
"I played very well
today, much better than days before," says Trung.
The HCM City player took
advantage of Hoang’s arm injury.
"Hoang is a difficult
opponent, but he was injured. He could only repel me in the first games. I tried
to take full advantage of my strengths with stormy smashes that he could not
react against," Trung says.
His next rival will be
Huynh Chi Khuong of the Army team, who beat teenager Nguyen Hoang Thien 7-5, 6-4
in the other quarter-final match.
"I have met Khuong
twice in the past and I won one, lost one. I think we both have a 50 per cent
chance of winning the match, but I believe in my abilities," Trung says.
Khuong, who is the former
national No 2, was met with a little bit of a challenge in his match against
Viet Nam’s rising star Thien, who is on track to be a professional athlete.
Thien,14, who won the
Asian U14 championship last year, managed to win most his games when taking
serves in the first set.
At 6-5, Khuong won a
break-point that finished the first set at 7-5.
Khuong faired better in
the second set, with Thien making a series of unforced errors. Khuong wrapped up
the second set with a 6-4 win.
"He did not listen to
what I said and that’s why he failed," says Roy Coppersmith, Thien’s
American coach.
"I know how to win
against this kind of player [Khuong] and I told him, but he did not obey me. He
is a smart player, but he needs to listen to his coach and he will win,"
Coppersmith adds.
On the women’s side,
Tran Lam Anh of HCM City’s Tanimex team finished her match with a win of 6-7,
6-1, 6-0 against teammate Nguyen Ai Ngoc Van in the quarter-finals. Next, she
will play veteran Huynh Mai Huynh, also a Tanimex member.
The other semi-final match
is between defending champion Nguyen Thuy Dung of Ha Noi and Huynh Phuong Dai
Trang from Da Nang.
In mixed doubles, Army’s
Le Quoc Khanh/Nguyen Tu Kim Ngan beat Nguyen Thai Luan/Ai Van of Tanimex 6-2,
6-3. They will play another Tanimex pair Lam Quang Tri/Lam Anh, who beat Nguyen
Minh Tuan/Do Dan Thi from Da Nang 6-1, 6-0 yesterday.
The national championship
kicked off on Monday and has 40 athletes competing in all five categories.
The tournament will wrap
up this Sunday. — VNS