By MARK REY MONTEJO
Alex Eala failed to conjure the magic that enabled her to reach the quarterfinal round and suffered a stinging 6-4, 1-6, 2-6 defeat to Thai Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the ITF W100 Takasaki on Friday in Japan.
Eala, 19, flexed her might in the opening set but the 22-year-old Sawangkaew found ways to launch her counter attacks in the second frame which she sustained with ferocity en route to taming the Filipina ace.
She wrapped up the match after almost two hours of contest that saw the two Asian stars trading one big shot after another to the cheers of the crowd.
It was Eala’s second match of the day, and that proved disastrous as she lost her steam and composure.
With her win, the third-seeded Thai set up a semifinal clash against No. 2 China’s Sijia Wei, while the other semis pairing features Indonesia’s Priska Madelyn Nugroho and hometown favorite Aoi Ito.
The Asian Games double bronze medalist advanced to the quarters after clobbering Japanese bet Ena Koike, 6-2, 6-0, in her first match before pulling off a dramatic 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over another Japanese bet in Hayu Kinoshita.
Against the Thai, Eala did try to re-produce that magic but failed as she outhustled and outplayed beginning in the second frame.
