Cambodia’s Davis Cup pivot Bun Kenny met with mixed fortunes during his visit to New Delhi for the newly introduced Asian Tennis Tour event, going down 2-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals on Saturday to top-seeded Vishnu Vardhan, an Indian Davis Cupper who is currently ranked 443 in the world.
Clutching a wild card into the main draw, Kenny overcame a rough start in the first round to beat India’s Lakshit Sood, ranked 1,381. From a set down, Kenny won that contest 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 to set up a clash with Vardhan, who had the distinction of winning the ATT’s inaugural event a few days earlier.
Making the most of Kenny’s lethargic start, a strong and confident Vardhan closed out 6-2, 6-4. But a cracking encounter between the two nearly five years ago in Phnom Penh was not lost on both players as they left the court.
It was in January 2011 that Vishnu Vardhan stepped into the National Training Center as the top seed for Cambodia’s inaugural Futures series ranked as high as 387 at the time for a first round clash with Kenny.
Defying odds and expectations, Kenny took the first set to a tie break and even led 3-0 before Vishnu found his A-game and wrapped up 7-6,6-2 a tie that lasted more than two hours.
Vishnu Vardhan went on to the finals where he was beaten by a classy Danai Odomchoke of Thailand.
Kenny now heads to Thailand for the Singha Bangkok Open at the Impact Tennis Academy from April 30 to May 8. Four other National team members, Long Samneang, Phalkun Mam, Chheang Vannasak and Our Sarith, will also take part in the tournament.
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