Oman’s Fatma Al Nabhani storms into second round of ITF tourney in South Korea

Muscat: Overcoming the disappointment of losing in the first round of the doubles competition, Omani sensation Fatma Al Nabhani stormed into the second round of the $25,000 Goyang ITF Pro Circuit tournament in South Korea on Wednesday.
In the first round of the singles, the seventh seeded Omani eased to a straight sets victory over local girl Dabin Kim.
Fatma, who is currently ranked 421 in the singles, showed urgency as she conceded just two games before sealing the first set 6-2 against Dabin Kim.
In the second set, however, local lass fought hard and stretched Fatma to the limit. Dabin Kim managed to take the set into the tie-breaker but failed to stop Fatma from winning the set and the match with a final scoreline of 6-2, 7-6 (6).
In the second round, Fatma will clash with another local girl Sang Hee Park.
In her first round match, unseeded Sang Hee Park was made to toil by compatriot Sunam Jeong.
In fact, it was Sunam who won the first set at 6-3. But Sang Hee Park rallied back and dominated the next two sets before clinching the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
On Tuesday, Fatma Al Nabhani and her Thai partner Patcharin Cheapchandej fumbled in the first round of the doubles competition.
In their first round match, the Omani-Thai pair came up against strong local duo of Seung-Yeon Hong and Seo-Kyung Kang. Though Fatma and Patcharin gave a good fight they failed to stop the Korean girls from winning 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7).
It may be mentioned that Fatma is yet to regain the form that fetched her five titles in 2015.
Last month, the Omani, whose highest career ranking of 362 came way back in 2010, took part in a highly rated $100,000 Anning ITF Pro Circuit tournament in China where she bowed out in the first round of both singles and doubles.
In the singles, she lost 3-6, 3-6 to Australian Jessica Moore and in the doubles, Fatma and her Japanese partner Junri Naigata were beaten 3-6, 3-6 by Thailand’s Varatchaya Wongteanchai and China’s Zhaoxuan Yang.
Fatma had a great year in 2015 when she won five $10,000 titles, including two back-to-back crowns in south Indian city of Hyderabad.
In 2013, she won back-to-back $10,000 Sharm El Sheikh titles in Egypt and similar level tournaments in Fujairah in 2010 and 2012 respectively.