Korean Shin Jaejun won the battle of lefties as he and Malaysian starlet Daania Daniella Hazli grabbed a double at the J30 Phnom Penh tennis championships at the Morodok Tennis Center.
For the second time in as many weeks, fifteen-year-old Jaejun won both the boys singles and doubles title.
As for Daania, after winning the girl’s singles title on Friday, she teamed up with Singaporean Chanya Ng Kai Ning to grab the girl’s doubles title with an effortless 6-1, 6-3 win over the Korean-Chinese pairing of Park Ha-an-Zican Yang.
The star of the two back-to-back tournaments held in Phnom Penh was undoubtedly Jaejung.
He had easily defeated China’s Chen Xiaozheng at last week’s final but it was a battle all the way for the youngster in the final this week against top seeded Gao Ruochen of China.
The final match saw the pendulum swinging wildly to both end before a tired but visibly elated Jaejun walked away with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 win.
Jaejun clinching the final point
The fourth seeded Jaejun, who had defeated second seed Joachim Mika Gunawan of Indonesia in the semi-finals, was wary of playing another southpaw for the first time this week and it turned out to be his nightmare.
“Even before the match, I was concerned about playing a left handed player. After a strong start in the first set, I was feeling both physically and mentally drained in the second,” said Jaejun, who also plays left handed.
He failed to hold a single service game in the second set but managed to break Ruochen in the fifth game, strewn with mistakes from both players.
With Jaejun’s first service often going astray and his ground-strokes lacking the punch, Ruochen put the pressure on the Korea with some delightful cross-court passes.
But everything fell apart for the Chinese teenager after he was broken in his very first game of the deciding set.
“It was important for me to take an early break and also hold my service game. Once I took a 3-0 lead, I think Ruochen felt the pressure and his game collapsed,” said a delighted Jaejun.
Ruochen was at the receiving end in the boy’s doubles final as well. He and partner Joachim were the favourites to win the title but found the going tough.
Jaejun was again the bane as he and Koo Bon Hong, were in ruthless form. The second seeded pair, who had also won the doubles last week, cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 win in the final over Ruochen-Joachim.
While Jaejun and Bon Hong are not regular partners, the duo are expected to be back in action at the J30 Singapore in January.
Daania-Chanya (pictured above) were also in uncompromising mood in their girl’s doubles final against Ha-an-Zican.
It was a sharp contrast to their semi-final performance against China’s Wang Hanyu-Zijie Yang, They came back from the brink, 0-6, 0-2 down to defeat the Chinese pair in the semi-finals.
“We had lost to them in the semi-finals last week and we knew it was going to be difficult,” said Daania.
The pair seemed to have taken strength from the close call and played with urgency and control in the final.
“This is our first title as a pair, although we have played together when we were younger,” added Chanya.
Daania-Chanya were previously quarter-finalists at the J60 Seremban and J30 Terengganu in 2023.
FINAL RESULTS
Boy’s singles: Shin Jaejun (Kor) bt Gao Ruochen 6-2, 1-6, 6-1
Boy’s doubles: Shin Jaejun-Koo Bon Hong (Kor) bt Gao Ruochen-Joachim Mika Gunawan (Chn-Ina) 6-2, 6-3
Girl’s doubles: Daania Daniella Hazli-Chanya Ng Kai Ning (Mas-Sgp) 6-1, 6-3
