The Thailand Open Challenger returns for the first time since 2020 this weekend with 30 players heading to Pattaya to compete for the title.
The two seeded players in the Men’s A Singles category are Christian Börner and Leigh Sands. They are joined in the draw by the return of Mandrin Mouchet and Steven Wai Kit Cheng in the eight-player draw.
After finishing with a bronze medal three years ago, Glenda Ong is the top seed in the Women’s Singles draw. The draw features five players, with the other four all coming from Hong Kong in search of the title.
Here’s your full preview of the season-opening tournament.
Men’s A Singles – Hong Kong Players Dominate Elite Draw
They may be the lower-seeded player in every first-round match, but the Men’s A Singles draw is half made up of players from Hong Kong.
Steven Wai Kit Cheng, Chung Him Samuel Li, Bridge Yan Kiu Lam and Tze Ho Ho represent Hong Kong in the first round of the Men’s A Singles. Joining them is two Germans, a French player and an Australian player.
Christian Börner is the top seed in the Thailand Open Challenger draw. The German will take on Bridge Yan Kiu Lam in the first round. The Hong Kong player made his debut at this tournament three years ago, winning the Men’s B Doubles category alongside India’s Sidharth Nandal.
The other match in the top half will see the return of Mandrin Mouchet. The Frenchman missed the entire 2022 season with an injury but makes his comeback early in 2023. He kicks off against Tze Ho Ho.
It’s a battle of the Presidents in quarter three as Hong Kong Racketlon President Steven Wai Kit Cheng takes on Thailand President Frank Kleiber.
The fourth and final match will see Australian Leigh Sands take on Chung Him Samuel Li. Sands is the only player from Australia to have ever won an elite racketlon title after winning the Men’s Doubles in Thailand in 2019. Could he add an elite singles title to his collection?
The full Men’s A Singles draw is available here.
Women’s A Singles – Ong Set to Fight for First Philippines Crown
The only guarantee we have from the Women’s A Singles draw is that we’re going to have a new champion on the Racketlon World Tour. Five players are set to collide for the title in Thailand in a Box League format.
The Philippines’ Glenda Ong is the top seed in the draw and is looking to go one better than her silver medal that she won here three years ago.
Joining Ong are four players from Hong Kong; Tsz Yan Joyce Chan, Ho Ching Chan, Wan Yin Lui and Kwan Wun Man. Tsz Yan Joyce Chan is the No.2 seed having finished third in the Women’s B Singles at the IWT London Open this year.
After playing in a plethora of tournaments in 2018 and 2019, Ho Ching Chan is the most experienced of the five. The table tennis player has not played on the Racketlon World Tour since the 2019 King of Rackets though, so is making a welcome return. Both Wan Yin Lui and Kwan Wun Man are making their Racketlon World Tour debuts.
The full Women’s A Singles draw is available here.
Men’s Doubles – Defending Champion Chung Him Samuel Li Back With New Partner
Chung Him Samuel Li won the Men’s Doubles title at the Thailand Open Challenger alongside Kevin Ho Ching Ng three years ago. With his former partner still recovering from injury, Chung Him Samuel Li is this year partnering with debutant Man Cheong Pang.
They are not the top seeds in Group A though. That honour falls to Tsz Chung Chan and Steven Wai Kit Cheng. With six pairs competing in this draw, there are two Groups of three pairs, with each group winner advancing to the final.
Group A is an all-Hong Kong affair. Alongside the two pairs already mentioned, Jonathan Ho and Bridge Yan Kiu Lam are also competing for glory.
Group B is where you find non-Hong Kong players that are battling for the title. Among them is the No.2 seeds, Australia’s Leigh Sands and Thailand’s Sathid Sujittapiban. Sands has won this title in the past and will be hoping to do so again.
The rest of Group B contains a large element of mystery. Great Britain’s Adrian Ng has played before but his partner Timothy Sze has not. Likewise, Hong Kong duo Tze Ho Ho and Bryan Leung are also making their first foray into international racketlon.
The full Men’s Doubles draw is available here.
Mixed Doubles – Ong and Sands Searching for Silverware
Glenda Ong and Leigh Sands are teaming up in the hope of securing a first-ever elite Mixed Doubles crown for both the Phillippines and Australia at the Thailand Open Challenger. The duo are the top-seeded pair in the draw but faces stiff competition in three Hong Kong pairs.
The most notable among the pairs are Tsz Yan Joyce Chan and Steven Wai Kit Cheng. This is the second tie these pairs have teamed up in the last six months. They also competed at the World Doubles Championship in Graz, winning four out of five matches to secure a well-deserved bronze medal in the category.
Each of the other two pairs features one player with international racketlon experience and one debutant. The experienced duo of Ho Ching Chan and Chung Him Samuel Li are teaming up with Tze Ho Ho and Kwan Wun Man respectively.
The full Mixed Doubles draw is available here.
Men’s B Singles – Table Tennis Star Karantsev Among Draw
Box Leagues are the flavour of the month at the Thailand Open Challenger and we’ve got another one here in the Men’s B Singles. Among the four players is American Mikhail Kazantsev, who competed in the World Table Tennis Championships back in 2007.
The American is joined by Hong Kong duo Bryan Leung and Man Cheong Pang, as well as Thailand’s Sathid Sujittapiban. A sign of the growth of Hong Kong Racketlon over the past few years is that both Leung and Cheong Pang are making their international racketlon debuts.
Sujittapiban however, has played in this tournament twice before. The Thailand native took part in the Men’s A category three years ago, losing to Sidharth Nandal in the first round but winning his two proceeding matches.
The full Men’s B Singles draw is available here.
Men’s C Singles – Five Players Vying for Title
The Box League trend continues in the Men’s C Singles as five players battle for the title. The top seed in the draw is Adrian Ng, who is competing in this event once again. Tsz Chung Chan is a fascinating name as the No.2 seed.
Chung Chan played at the World Championships this year, narrowly losing to eventual finalist Vikramaditya Chaufla in the first round of the Men’s C Singles and also pushing established name Ray Jordan in the Seniors +40 Singles. He will be one of the favourites for the title.
Elsewhere, Thailand’s Thanapol Watanapreecha is returning to this tournament for the second time. Hong Kong duo Timothy Sze and Jonathan Ho are both making their international racketlon debuts.
The full Men’s C Singles draw is available here.
Seniors +40 Singles – Börner & Rakshit Right in the Mix
As well as being the top seed in the Men’s A Singles, Christian Börner is also the top seed in the Seniors +40 Singles. The German is a highly recognisable name on the Racketlon circuit and is the top seed in the four-player box league. Joining him is India’s Gourav Rakshit, Great Britain’s Adrian Ng and Hong Kong’s Tsz Chung Chan.
As we mentioned in the Men’s C Singles ranking, Chung Chan is a particularly dangerous player. Having pushed Ray Jordan close, he will be right in contention for this Seniors +40 Singles title.
Rakshit also has some experience at the top level though. The Indian squash stud has competed at the Men’s A Singles in this category before and also took part in the World Championships last year in Austria.
The full Seniors +40 Singles draw is available here.
Seniors +45 Singles – Denmark’s Nielsen Headlines Four-Player Draw
The only draw at the Thailand Open Challenger to feature all players heralding from different nations is the Seniors +45 Singles. Denmark, Thailand, India and Austria are all represented in this Seniors category.
The top seed is Per Franklin Nielsen. The Dane finished third in the Seniors +55 Singles draw at this tournament three years ago. Thailand’s Nattawee Sucandharuna also competed in that draw, finishing fifth with a victory over Peter Savige. Sucandharuna joined Nielsen in the Box League as the No.2 seed.
Austria’s Bernhard Wiedenhofer last competed in this tournament six years ago in its inaugural year. During that competition, he won the Seniors +50 Singles crown and also finished 6th in the Men’s C Singles. Now, he’s making his return. The fourth and final member of the draw is Indian debutant Nikhil Bhandare.
The full Seniors +45 Singles draw is available here.
Seniors +45 Doubles – German Duo Börner & Kleiber Top Seeds
Four pairs with players from six different countries will battle it out for the Seniors +45 Doubles crown. Leading the pack is the German duo Christian Börner and Frank Kleiber. The experienced pair are the top seeds in the Box League, with the other six players coming from five different countries.
The second-seeded pair features India’s Gourav Rakshit alongside Manish Mahajan from the UAE. While Rakshit has played international racketlon a number of times, Mahajan is making his debut.
There is a second Indian involved in this draw; Nikhil Bhandare. He is partnering with Nattawee Sucandharuna. The final pairing sees Adrian Ng team up with Timothy Sze.
The full Seniors +45 Doubles draw is available here.
Keep up with all the action from the Thailand Open on Facebook, Instagram and Racketlon.net.
The tournament begins on Friday with doubles and a handful of singles matches. Follow the live results as they come in on fir.tournamentsoftware.com.
Sam Barker / FIR Media Officer
Image / Frank Kleiber
