Thailand's women professionals are hoping to take charge of the US$100,000 Thailand Ladies Open presented by Tourism Authority of Thailand beginning tomorrow at Green Valley Country Club.

Since its inception in 1987, no Thai woman professional has won the event. However, a Thai victory did come in 2001 through one of the popular twin sisters Naree Wongluekiet – then playing under amateur status. Naree and twin sister Aree, whose mother is a Thai, have since opted for Korean citizenship as their father is a Korean and are now residing in the USA.

Thailand's seasoned women professional Russamee Gulyanamitta however believes that this time around the 17 Thai women professionals who will be in the starting list for the Thailand Ladies Open, are bent on putting a stop to the drought.

"We now have players who are capable of winning high profile tournaments anywhere in the world. In terms of playing skills, there's little to separate our women professionals from other top professionals from the rest of the world. Perhaps we lack mental strength, consistency and high competitive atmosphere, but I believe we'll see a Thai winner on Friday (the final day of competition)," said Russamee, who was once playing in the Futures Tour.

Apart from Russamee, Thailand has a number of rising women professional players like Pornanong Phatlum, Porani Chutichai, Nontaya Srisawang, Rungthiwa Pangjan, Titiya Plucksataporn and Walailak Satarak.

"Our Thai women professionals are now prepared to break in the world scene. Porani (Chutichai) has qualified to play in the Step Up Tour in Japan this year. Others like Tiranan Yoopan and Rungthiwa will be heading to Japan to play in the q-school this year, while Nontaya is all set to make her assault in the Futures Tour this season," said Russamee.

Porani, with one title in hand – Taiwan Ladies Open - hopes to overcome a poor start to the 2007 LAGT season. She failed to make the cuts in the first and second tournaments in Macau and Hong Kong respectively.

However, the Thais are not going to have an easy ride as Korea's rookie professional of the year Shin Ji-yai – a big hitter – and Hong Kong Ladies Masters winner Libby Smith of the USA and a host of other players like Mika Kimura and Rie Shiraki, winner of the Guam Governor's Cup last week, Zimbabwe's Sharne Wild, Chinese Taipei's Teresa Lu and Yvonne Weng and China's Zhong Xiaolong could gatecrash a Thai celebration.

Smith is ready to battle it out at Green Valley. She said: "I've stayed on since winning the Hong Kong Ladies Masters last month to get acclimatised to the conditions here. I feel good and looking forward to my second win in the Asian Tour," she said.

March 6, 2007

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