Mr. Suwat Liptapanlop, former Deputy Prime Minister and Honorary President of the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand under Royal Patronage, as the chairman of the competition’s advisory board, presided over the closing ceremony of the biggest female professional tennis tournament in ASEAN, WTA 250, “Alliance Thailand Open 2024 Presented by Cal-Comp”, with a total prize money of 267,082 US dollars or approximately 10 million baht at the Center Court Arena, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province on 22 Sep 67.
Highlights of the women’s singles final: Rebecca Sramkova, a tennis player from Slovakia and ranked 102nd in the world, met Lera Siegemund, a tennis player from Germany, 36 years old and ranked 99th in the world. The results of the match showed that Rebecca played well, especially in the back of the court and in the net, before winning 2-0 sets with scores of 6-4 in both sets in almost 2 hours.
Rebecca Sramkova won the women’s singles title, receiving $35,250 in prize money or approximately 1,160,782 ba
ht and 250 world ranking points. The women’s singles runner-up received $20,830 in prize money or approximately 685,931 baht and 163 points.
In the women’s doubles final, Anna Danilina, the world’s 34th ranked tennis player from Kazakhstan, and Irina Kromasheva, the world’s 30th ranked tennis player, who are the top seeds of the tournament, battled with Udice Chong, the world’s 191st ranked tennis player from Hong Kong, and Moyuka Yushijima, the world’s 164th ranked tennis player from Japan in an exciting match. The top seed of the tournament used their good play to help each other win in 2 sets 6-4 and 7-5 in 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Anna Danilina and Irina Kromasheva were crowned champions in the women’s doubles and as the winners, they shared prize money of $12,820 and 250 world ranking points each. The runners-up pair shared prize money of $7,210 and 163 world ranking points each.
After the competition, there was an award ceremony where Mr. Suwat presented the trophy to Rebecca Sramkova, the winner, whil
e Mr. Peerakiat Siriruethaiwattana, Managing Director of Business Development, Allied Precision (Thailand) Co., Ltd. presented flowers. Mr. Thanusak Janyapun, Director of Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Public Company Limited presented the trophy to Lera Siegemund, the runner-up, and Mr. Achawan Kongkanan, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Prachuap Khiri Khan Office presented flowers.
The atmosphere of the competition was lively with many tennis fans watching the final match, including Barbora Krejcicova, the 28-year-old Czech tennis player who is currently ranked 11th in the world and the winner of the 2024 Wimbledon and 2021 French Open Grand Slams. She had previously traveled to practice at the Hua Hin Arena and also joined the final match. On this occasion, H.E. Suwat presented flowers and a ‘Nong Wana’ doll from Vana Nava Water Park to Barbora Krejcicova as an official welcome. The couple also took a photo together at the ‘Sportsman’ statue, the symbol of the Hua Hin Arena.
The event
was also honored by Lt. Gen. Siripong Pocharakanokkul, Deputy Director-General, Administration, Royal Thai Army Television Station (TV5), Mr. Pattrick Both Regional General Manager Luxury and Lifestyle IHG Hotels and Resorts, Mr. Noppadech Karnasuta, Senior Executive Vice President, B. Grimm, Mr. Chin Laoruk-Uthai, Chief Executive Officer, iSanook Hotel Hua Hin, Mr. Naruphol Pongpanich, Senior Marketing Manager, Thai Drink Co., Ltd., by 100 Plus Healthy Carbonated Drinks, Dr. Chalanda Chobjit, Director of Professional Sports Administration and Evaluation Division, Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), Mr. Paradorn Srichaphan, Competition Director, and Mr. Natha Chomsevi, Cluster General Manager, Vana Nava Water Jungle / Arena Hua Hin / Andamanda Phuket.
Mr. Suwat revealed that he would like to congratulate the athletes who won the championship and the runner-up positions. It was a very fun competition. He would like to thank all sectors, both government and private, for supporting the organization of the com
petition. This year is a special year in which the Thailand Open has been organized at the WTA 250 level twice. He is interested in moving up to a bigger level, WTA 500, but to move up, the Women’s Tennis Professionals Association (WTA) must come and inspect and give scores, both for the organization’s standards and the stadiums used to organize the competition.
‘If we were to organize the WTA 500, it would make the competition much bigger because in the 250 level, players ranked 30 and above cannot compete. But in the 500 level, players from the world’s No. 1 can compete. So I think we will try to organize it. Another important thing is the budget. The 250 level costs about 2 million US dollars or about 66 million baht, while the 500 level requires 5 million US dollars or about 170 million baht.’
The chairman of the competition’s advisory board continued that if the 500 level is established, Thailand will be ranked as one of the top countries in Asia that can host the competition. After that, they will cho
ose which province to hold the competition in because there will be a lot of viewers. With a live broadcast all over the world, it will be another channel for publicizing the country that is very effective. The 500 level has a set standard. The main things to consider are the city, the population, the city’s infrastructure, the city’s readiness, and the readiness of the stadium. The stadium must be able to accommodate at least 5,000-10,000 viewers.
“Now, the WTA trusts us that in terms of organizing the tournament, Thais can do it. But investing in the stadium and organizing, which will require a lot of budget, will we be able to do it or not?” H.E. Suwat concluded.
Source: Thai News Agency